


Stargate Atlantis - Sleep Before I Do

by Shadow_Chaser



Series: Stargate Atlantis Alternate Season 3 [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ancients should stop leaving their toys around, BAMF John Sheppard, Dark fic, Episode: s03e09 Phantoms, Furlings, Gen, Kolya's at it again, alternate season 3, h/c
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-10-01
Updated: 2009-11-03
Packaged: 2017-12-28 02:09:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 73,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/986408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow_Chaser/pseuds/Shadow_Chaser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a mission to M3R-154, the team is ambushed by aliens working with Kolya’s rogue Genii.  Taken to their underground lair, they discover something shocking and sinister.  A race long forgotten will be awakened and the discovery of a weapon may just turn the tide of the war – if the team survives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mission

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**Title:** Sleep Before I Do

**Author:** Shadow Chaser

**Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Summary:** On a mission to M3R-154, the team is ambushed by aliens working with Kolya’s rogue Genii.  Taken to their underground lair, they discover something shocking and sinister.  A race long forgotten will be awakened and the discovery of a weapon may just turn the tide of the war – if the team survives.

**Rating:** PG-13/R

**Status:** Part of a trilogy (1/3); Complete

**Content Warnings:** Lots of character whumping, H/C, battles, violence, torture, etc.  Whenever Kolya’s involved, you know there’s gonna be people hurtin’.  ^_^

**Spoilers:** Up to _Phantoms_ (everything after that makes this story AU)

**Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

**Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, Shep/McKay friendship, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.

**Notes:** For the romantic pairings, watching Atlantis has made me see hints of both Sheppard and Weir along with Sheppard and Teyla.  However, I don’t really see anything between Sheppard and McKay except a deep friendship that is almost best friends.  Both make fun of each other, poke fun, and generally will support each other, but nothing that would indicate any romantic feelings as I have seen in many Atlantis fanfics.  I also definitely see something between Ronon and Teyla…^_^  Also, this is not my first time writing for the Stargate universe, but I’ve pretty much never published any of those works…

 

**Story:**

 

_Chapter 1 –_ _Mission_

 

He should have known that the word _routine_ was usually a sign that their mission was going to go downhill and roll into a giant pile of shit, but no, did he ever listen to that voice whispering in his head?  John Sheppard grunted in pain as a meaty fist dug into his already broken lower ribs one more time and blearily tried to keep his eyes open.  He saw vague shapes of people surrounding him, but he knew who they were ever since his team’s capture on M3R-154.

Every fiber of his being was in pain and while some others were more acute, it still hurt each time pressure was put on.  His hands and arms were already numb with both pain and loss of circulation, being held up behind him in a spread-eagle style.  His feet, thankfully, were still firmly on the ground and thus, he didn’t have to wrench his shoulders anymore than they were already.

One, he knew was already dislocated and his efforts in popping that joint back into its socket was rewarded by him passing out as soon as he felt it pop back in.  He had only awakened to the rough shaking of guards hauling him up from his cell and to this torture chamber.

Well, at least the one bright spot in all of this was that there was no Wraith to feed on him this time around.

A damp trickle of sour tasting water touched his lips and startled him from his dazed thoughts as he jerked involuntarily against his chains.  He gritted his teeth and suppressed the hiss of pain that coursed throughout his whole body as it reacted to his jerk.  Glancing through one good eye, albeit a bit blurry at times he saw the grinning face of his captor and the tiniest tremor of fear shot through him.

He recognized the man in front of him.

The face that he had sworn to kill the next time they met…Acastus Kolya.

“Colonel Sheppard,” Kolya smirked at him and John Sheppard knew that he was in deep trouble.

                                    *                      *                      *

_72 hours before…_

 

“I’m just saying, couldn’t we just stay for a couple more days?” John pretended to ignore McKay’s whining and continued to trudge through the heavy underbrush that was on M3R-154.  But he did let a small grin quirk the corner of his lips as he knew the real reason why Rodney wanted to stay.

In the small village they had encountered, the locals spoke of a powerful device that was used in ancient times to help defend themselves against the Wraith.  But since all of the ancestors were gone, they didn’t have anyone who could operate the device.  Meaning…Rodney wanted to test the device using his own ATA gene.  During their stay for the last few days, the scientist had all but set up camp in the room where the device was while he and Teyla were negotiating a treaty and trade agreements with the locals.

McKay wanted him to stand in the device to see if it would work with his gene, but he had declined with his usual faint grin and said that he would scout out the perimeter to see if there was anything else.

The real reason why he didn’t want anything to do with that device was because it gave him the creeps.  He didn’t know what it was, but something about it made him feel uneasy.  He had told McKay this, but the scientist practically ignored him and muttered something about how every soldier felt uneasy with things they didn’t know.

“McKay, we can send in another team after we report back to Elizabeth,” John said in a patient voice.

“But, the device…it’s just waiting to be activated!  I don’t even know why you couldn’t stand in the circle,” Rodney complained, “would it have hurt you?”

“I don’t really know,” he turned back to look at his teammate, “besides, the thing gave me the creeps.”

“Oh well sorry,” the scientist grumbled, “I’m sure if we send in a lot more troops, scare the locals, and then you’ll feel safer, is that it?”

John decided to ignore the last retort and turned back around, keeping his senses focused as they moved through the underbrush and back to the gate.  There were times his best friend could infuriate him…and this was one of them.

“I’m sure Colonel Sheppard has his reasons, Rodney,” Teyla’s soothing voice spoke to his left.

“Yes, and they involve paranoia,” McKay shot back none too loudly.

John tightened his grip on his P-90 and wished that he would shut up just as they came to the clearing where the stargate was located.

“Oh, we’re here already,” McKay commented, “that didn’t seem as bad as the first time.”

John had to agree with the scientist as he started to dial the address home.  Their first time trudging through the underbrush was like trying to weed-whack the rainforest.  Luckily the locals had some antiseptic and bandages for the numerous cuts they received.  He knew that Dr. Beckett would have to look them over to make sure none of the antiseptic was harmful, but John didn’t think so and knew that the good doctor would love to get his hands on some of what the locals had.

“Yes, and we did not receive many cuts and scrapes as before,” Teyla agreed, punching in her IDC code before they all headed towards the gate.

Rodney was already going through the gate along with Teyla and he started to follow her lead when he turned around to see Ronon staring around at the clearing.  Sheppard paused, wondering what the Satedan was doing.

“Ronon?” he asked.

“There’s something not right,” Ronon muttered, looking around some more, his eyes narrowed.  After a few seconds, he shrugged and turned to face him.

“You okay?”

“I will be once we’re off this planet,” the Satedan replied as the two of them stepped through the event horizon and back to Atlantis.

A lone figure with haunted glowing yellow eyes watched them before it whistled a strange set of sounds.  The figure stood up from the underbrush, its cat-like features riddled with twigs and bits of grass from lying so long in its position.  Another set of whistles sounded from the distance before the cat-like creature sprinted away from the stargate, headed deeper into the woods.

                                    *                      *                      *

Rodney resisted the urge to bounce excitedly in his seat as Carson was looking him over and taking a blood sample to make sure that the antiseptic that the natives had used on M3R-154 wasn’t carrying anything harmful to the expedition or to themselves.  All he wanted to do was to go back and keep examining the Ancient defense device.  He still didn’t understand why both Sheppard and Ronon were so uneasy throughout the whole mission.  He didn’t feel a damn thing and he had the ATA gene too!  Even Teyla was taken in by the natives and was smiling happily throughout their whole stay.

Still…

“Can I _please_ go?” he asked Carson who was finally took the damn needle out of his arm.  He hated needles and didn’t know why the doctor insisted on taking at least six vials.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Carson shook his head, “you can go laddie.”  With the final snap of the tourniquet taken off, Rodney hopped off the table and walked quickly from the infirmary, headed straight to Dr. Weir’s office.

He didn’t bother apologizing to anyone who was in his way as he barreled down the halls, and burst into Elizabeth’s office, a huge grin on his face.

“Rodney, you’re early,” Elizabeth tilted her head, a smile coming to her lips.

“I know, I know,” his grin grew wider, “how about we just send another team back?  I mean come on there’s so much to do on that planet!  I’ve almost got the device working again and it just needs a bit of tweaking-“

“Whoa, slow down Rodney,” Elizabeth interrupted his line of thought with a hand and he blinked a few times in surprise then realized that she didn’t know what had happened on the planet for the past few days.  Even though Sheppard surely had reported in he figured that the man didn’t report everything in.

“Oh, the Colonel didn’t tell you about the device?  No?  Well then, it’s an Ancient defense system that I think, from what my notes,” he brought out his datapad and tapped a few buttons – those Ancient tracking devices were handy as mini notebooks too since his laptop was still sitting in his backpack which was in the nearby conference room but who cared where it was for now-  “that we can get this operational and probably figure out if it has drones we can use since the tower defense system on MX2-334 is one source of the drones but we kind of need more when the Wraith discover that we’re not all that dead-“

“Rodney…”

“-so anyways, this new defense system is activated as usual by the ATA gene and I’m on the verge of figuring out its codes and what it actually does to defend the place.  But Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon have been scouting out the place and the natives say that long ago the cullings have never happened.  Only when the last of those with the ATA gene had disappeared that the Wraith showed up on their door step.  The library’s really vague-“

“Rodney…”

“-on how the defense systems actually work-“

“Rodney!” he jumped at the mention of his name and looked at Elizabeth who was shaking her head, a crooked smile on her face.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“Can you wait a few minutes more so you can tell me about the defense system during the briefing?”

“Oh…um sure,” he blinked owlishly then shrugged and shut off the datapad before going into the adjacent conference room and sat down on one of the chairs.  He missed the blossoming of a full smile on Elizabeth’s face as she shook her head at his antics.

                                    *                      *                      *

Elizabeth watched Rodney sit down at the conference table and take out his laptop.  His whole posture was that of a giddy child wanting to go play in the sandbox and she suppressed a quiet laugh that threatened to come out of her.

The noise of the rest of the team coming in for their post-mission briefing made her glance towards the lower stairs where John, Teyla, and Ronon were climbing up to get to the conference room.  A concerned look washed over her face as she saw that both men’s postures were a bit tense while Teyla looked relaxed.  Why were John and Ronon tense?  Had something happened on the planet that Rodney and Teyla didn’t know about?

Deciding to probe later, she got up and gathered the papers relevant to M3R-154.  Walking towards the conference room she took her seat in one of the chairs, noting that the Canadian astrophysicist was mumbling about something and hastily typing away on his laptop.

A few seconds later the rest of the team came in and the door-like panes of the conference room automatically shut, sensing that a briefing was about to happen.  Elizabeth still marveled at how sentient and life-like Atlantis was, sensing the needs of the expedition and making sure that in all possible ways, no one was hurt, save for the few times they knocked over experiments, jury-rigged Earth’s systems to Atlantis…

“Rodney was explaining to me that M3R-154 had an Ancient defense system-“

“And we should go back because it needs to be studied,” the scientist’s voice took on a sing-song tone of annoyance.

“-what else have you found on the planet?”

“Habitable, peaceful traders…there’s a total of about six other villages within walking distance of the main one, which looks like a capital city of sorts, though with wooden huts…” John shrugged.

“Too quiet,” Ronon added his two cents in.

“They are fair traders and they do have medicinal herbs that may be useful to Dr. Beckett.  They treated our wounds when we were walking towards their settlement,” Teyla explained in a calm voice.  She always ended up surprising Elizabeth with her motherly tone of voice and her ability to keep tensions from rising – it was one of the things that made her respect the leader of the Athosians so much.

“Wounds?” Elizabeth didn’t like hearing that her teams were getting injured almost every time they went through the gate.

“Small wounds, Dr. Weir.  Scratches and cuts we received going through the thick underbrush that surrounds all seven villages.  I believe that it is part of the defense system, though more natural, to hold off the Wraith for a while,” Teyla reassured her.

“I see,” she nodded, sitting back before turning to her chief scientist, “so Rodney, what can you tell me about the defense system?”

“It’s ATA gene activated, though since it hasn’t been used for a while, I don’t know if the system will recognize the ATA genes in ourselves, but I’ve been trying to figure out how it works and I think there might be an underground complex beneath this thing that probably would have a lot of drones that we can salvage for Atlantis to use against the Wraith or even the Asurans,” Rodney turned his laptop around to show her the screen, “see?  The systems are in Ancient, but I’ve been so far, been able to translate about a quarter of it.”

“What does it say?” she vaguely recognized some of the Ancient text on his computer.

“It’s like reading a poem, but I think it says that the device was left as a gift to the people of the village and something about _Klisa’nthus_ , I’ve never encountered a word like that – anyways, being guardians when the time comes to defeat the Awakened Ones,” Rodney shoved his laptop over to her and she took it, clicking on a few select parts of the text.

“Awakened Ones?” she asked.

“Most likely the Wraith,” Teyla replied, “we did see a few Wraith corpses scattered in the underbrush, though most were heavily decayed.”

“ _Klisa’nthus_?” she asked, her eyes scanning over the text.  Though she wasn’t as literate to translate the text like Dr. Jackson was back on Earth, she still was able to pick out a few words.  “Rodney, can I have a copy of this text?”

“Sure, sure,” the scientist nodded absently.

“We were not able to find any reference to whom or what they were, though the village’s ancient texts do mention them,” Teyla replied.

“And what did they do in those texts?” she asked, glancing up to look at the team.

“Kill a bunch of Wraiths during a few cullings…I get the feeling that they live for a very long time,” John shrugged again and Elizabeth noticed that the tension in his body still hadn’t gone away.

“Was there anything wrong?” she probed.

“No…not really…it’s just that I don’t like that defense system.  You know I’m not the one to be scared of anything,” he waved his hand in a vague direction, “but this thing gives me the creeps.”

“Me too,” Ronon chimed in.  The large Satedan rarely took a seat during the post or pre-mission briefings and even now, he was standing behind John and Teyla, his arms crossed over his chest, resting against the wall.

“The creeps?” she raised an eyebrow.  In the three years she had spent in Atlantis, she had rarely seen John concerned or scared of anything, and even those few times, he had kept a firm mask on his inner emotions, choosing only to display a mask of nonchalance and distant concern.  But Elizabeth had seen those few times he was truly scared, angry, or concerned.

So for him to admit that he was worried about the defense system made her concerned.  While Ronon was naturally suspicious of anything and everything, she was learning how to read his emotions through his voice and posture; it was what made her such a great diplomat and help negotiate almost impossible treaties.

“I don’t know, but I just don’t like it-“

“Of course you don’t like it Colonel; we don’t know anything about it,” Rodney snipped from his end of the circular table.

“McKay…” John’s tone took on that of annoyance.

“Gentlemen,” Elizabeth held her hands up towards both of them to stop them from launching into one of their regular snipping wars with each other.  “Please.  Now, John, why don’t you like it?”

Her military commander shifted slightly in his seat for a few seconds, trying to gather his thoughts and Elizabeth felt a flash of sympathy for him.  She knew that he didn’t like to express his feelings when it involved certain things and most of all, didn’t like to express weakness in front of others.  This was probably one of those times.

“It’s…just a bad feeling.  Like something’s bad was going to happen if we stayed there any longer…I dunno.”

“It feels more sinister than the Wraith,” Ronon supplied and Elizabeth stared at him, surprised.

“Sinister than the Wraith?” she glanced at Teyla who shook her head, confused.

“Oh please, sinister than the Wraith…what can be more sinister than life-sucking aliens?” Rodney shook his head.

“I didn’t feel anything of the sort,” Teyla knew that she was asking about her Wraith-sense.

“Come on…can I please just go back and study the thing?” she glanced at her chief scientist.

“I don’t know…if both Ronon and Colonel Sheppard have bad feelings about this-“

“ _Elizabeth_ ,” though she never showed it, it really irked her to hear her name being dragged out like that as if she was a small child.  “Sheppard and Ronon can stay here.  Send Major Lorne and two units of Marines with me if you’re so worried!”

She glanced over to John and to Ronon.  Ronon just shrugged, clearly indicating that he would rather stay in the city than go back to the place.  John stayed quiet for a few seconds before sighing softly.

“I guess if McKay wants to go back have fun with his experiments-“the first sign that the tension was leaving was a crooked smile to Rodney who was rolling his eyes, “then Lorne and two teams should be fine.”

“All right.  You have a go Rodney,” she turned to her chief scientist who looked absolutely ecstatic and was grinning from ear to ear, “but, first sign of trouble and you’re heading back.”

“May I go with Dr. McKay, Dr. Weir?” Teyla spoke up, “the locals had some things I think my people would like to trade with them and plus I may be able to bring back more herbal medicines for Dr. Beckett to study.”

“Yes, that will be fine,” she nodded, “you’ll be leaving tomorrow at oh-nine-hundred providing Dr. Beckett clears you.”

“Good, good,” Rodney started to get up, rubbing his hands gleefully, “now I need to get some supplies and stuff…”

The others took it as a cue that their briefing was over, besides writing up mission reports and the door-panes opened up, revealing the hustle and bustle that was the hub of the control room of Atlantis.

“John, can I see you in my office for a few minutes?” she called after him and he nodded, changing his direction to head to her office after telling Ronon and Teyla that he would join them for lunch in a few minutes.

She gathered her papers and headed into her office before taking a seat in front of her desk.  John was already sitting in the chair in front on the opposite side of her desk, staring out at the view she had of the gateroom, a distant frown on his face.

“What’s bothering you, Colonel?” she asked, bringing his gaze towards her.  She noticed that while he seemed a little more relaxed, there were still tension lines around his eyes.

“Nothing much,” he shrugged.

“John,” she smiled slightly, “I know you better than this.  You’re worried.  So tell me what’s bothering you that you didn’t want to say in front of the others during the briefing?”

He fidgeted in his seat for a few seconds, before he looked up at her, “Something just doesn’t feel right on that planet, more so near the device than anything else.”

“Ronon said it was more sinister than the Wraith…did you get that feeling too?” she asked gently.

“No,” he shook his head and became quiet for a few more minutes his gaze turning towards the gateroom once more, “I just had the feeling that we were being watched…”

“By the natives?”

“No,” he shook his head before sitting up from his seat and holding his hands out, “you know that feeling like someone’s analyzing you?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth had that feeling lots of times during her negotiations.

“It’s like that…but somehow different,” John scratched the back of his head.

“Should I tell Rodney to postpone the mission?” if this was something that was really bothering John, she knew that she should stop the return mission before anything else happened.

“No…let him go for now,” John shook his head, “just…tell Lorne to be extra careful, all right?”

She nodded, “All right.”

“Good,” he slapped his hands on his thighs and got up, “now if you’ll excuse me.  I’m gonna get some lunch.”

She smiled as he got up.  “Get some rest Colonel.”

He returned the smile before walking out of her office and towards the mess hall.  She watched him go, a feeling of worry running through her.  He had been through so much and yet, seemed to bounce back with more vigor than ever.  She knew that he kept his innermost feelings hidden from others and though she didn’t prod at that part, she wished that he didn’t have to keep it bottled up inside and instead opened to at least someone so that the pain, guilt, anger, and whatever else was wracking him wouldn’t eat him alive.

She had recommended he talk with Dr. Kate Heightmeyer, but even the psychologist’s efforts to get him to open up was at a dead end.  The rare times she had seen his true emotions had always left her half-scared, half-relieved…and many of those times, she realized, was when she was in mortal danger.

Teyla had told her when they were just talking one day, that John had reluctantly confided in her that he considered, herself, Teyla, Ronon, McKay, Zelenka, Lorne, and even Ford his family.  Though she knew that the full conversation between her and John was in confidence, she still appreciated that the Athosian told her a part of it.

She just hoped one day he would be able to trust all of them enough to show his true feelings instead of hiding under his mask all the time.

                                    *                      *                      *

Even with a full and satisfied stomach that had been growling slightly during the few days they were on M3R-154; partially because of the slightly inedible food the natives served, John stared up at the ceiling that was his quarters on Atlantis.  Night had long fallen on the city and while lunch and dinner were mildly funny, especially with Ronon still not quite used to all of Earth foods, he still couldn’t get to sleep.

Beckett had cleared all of them from the blood work he had done and was positively excited about the sampling of medicine that Teyla had brought back and had been buried in his lab for hours until he was literally dragged into the mess hall for a late dinner by one of his staff members.  McKay then proceeded to needle the doctor for not eating healthy and insisting that they all do and it was a nice verbal battle going on between the two that John didn’t feel like interrupting.

Still…he glanced lifted his wrist and pushed the glow-setting on his watch and the clock showed that it was roughly one in the morning.  Thankfully, Atlantis seemed to have a 24-hour a day time clock and so everything was corresponded to that.  He didn’t know what was bothering him – check that, he did know, but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

It was the damned defense system device that McKay was going on about for the past few days.  It scared him and he didn’t like things that scared him.  Okay, the Wraith were scary, but he was more pissed at them than scared.  He knew that he hadn’t been totally truthful to Elizabeth during the post-mission debriefing, but it wasn’t anything that was going to threaten McKay on his return trip back.  It was just that the thing made him feel cold inside, a sense of inevitable doom.  Ronon had said that it felt worst than the Wraith and right now, he was inclined to agree with the Satedan.

However, he guessed that either McKay was too caught up in exploring the device or was immune to its effects.  Teyla was probably immune due to the Wraith gene she had within her.  But the odd thing was that it was almost like a gut feeling, and he usually trusted his gut feelings, even though it sometimes it ended him up in trouble.

Turning over to a more comfortable position on his bed, he forced himself to relax and closed his eyes.  Hopefully McKay would be able to get something useful out of the device so they can all just leave it alone afterwards.  An uneasy sleep drifted over him and somewhere in the back of his mind, John knew that something terrible was going to happen…

                                    *                      *                      *


	2. Return

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

 **Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

 **Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, Shep/McKay friendship, hints of Ronon/Teyla, hints of Shep/Teyla.

 **Notes:** I might end up changing the rating back down to a PG-13 but it mostly depends on how much violence I use in this fic.  The R rating is mostly for later chapters…  Please tell me if I’m getting the characterizations of a few characters wrong!

 

**Story:**

_Chapter 2 – Return_

 

Teyla lead Major Lorne and his team along with the other team of Marines, fresh from the _Daedalus’_ last drop off of supplies, through the thick undergrowth.  Behind her she could hear the excited murmurings of Dr. McKay and allowed a smile to appear on her face.  The good doctor could be so excitable at times, something she found amusing.

“I hope you’re paying attention back there Captain Pearson, step where we step and you won’t look like you went two rounds with a pitbull,” Major Lorne called back to the second team.

“Sir, yes sir!” the Captain called back in a clear and loud voice.

Sometimes, Teyla was puzzled at how much respect those in the military of the Lanteans from Earth showed to each other.  She was puzzled at how those ranked Captains or lower could have so much enthusiasm and respect for their superiors when clearly, between the Major and Colonel Sheppard, there seemed to be more camaraderie.

She had asked Major Lorne one day about that and he had explained that it was something to do with Sheppard’s “command style.”  That had left her even more confused…  Until Dr. Weir cleared it up for her, mostly.  She still did not understand the animosity between Sheppard and Colonel Caldwell, even though the captain of the _Daedalus_ was of a higher rank than Sheppard.

“We’re almost there,” she half-turned to tell Major Lorne who nodded and hefted his P90 to a more comfortable grip.

She could see the clearing and burst into the bright sunlight, sighing as they finally came out of the heavy underbrush.  Brushing twigs and leaves from her uniform, she glanced back and saw the others also stumbling out, a couple of the Marines from the new team looking a bit worst for wear and were covered in scratches.

“Do not worry about your scrapes and cuts.  The locals have a healing balm that would be most useful,” she called to two of them who were wincing as they pulled out at least ten prickly looking things from their hair and parts of their bodies.

“Now I get why the Wraith don’t like coming here,” Captain Pearson muttered, shaking a prickly from his hand.

“Come, the village is just up ahead,” she motioned for them to continue on and turned back around, Rodney moving along side of her, his head buried in the datapad while he was taking notes.  How the scientist never crashed into anything or stumbled around, even on Atlantis with his nose buried, was a mystery to Teyla.  She had thought that it was some kind of genetic trait that enabled Dr. McKay to avoid obstacles in his path, but Colonel Sheppard had reassured her that even he was baffled.

As they approached the entrance to the village she noticed a few of the people waving to them, some of them dropping their things and running to get the leader of the village, Taethos.  She patted Dr. McKay on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Hmm?  Oh,” the doctor looked up from whatever he was doing and put away the datapad, a grin appearing on his face.

“Teyla, Dr. McKay, so good to see you returning so soon.  I take it your leader wishes to trade with us?” Taethos’ booming voice echoed down the main street of the village as the large tall man walked towards them, with some of the village-folk behind him, grins on their faces.  He had a rakish looking air to him, with short dark hair and sparkling brown eyes, but his manner was most definitely not of a pirate.

“Taethos, it is good to see you again,” she greeted with a short bow and a smile on her face.  She had to admit; he was a good leader to his people and was very kind and helpful in providing for their needs during their stay.  Clasping hands with him, he smiled at her before moving to clasp hands with Rodney, to whom she saw him grimace slightly, but endured.

“Where are Colonel Sheppard and your good friend Ronon?” he asked looking around.

“They are leading more teams to explore other worlds as we speak,” Teyla explained before half-turning and gestured to Major Lorne and the Marines.  “This is Major Marcus Lorne and his team: Lieutenant Kaili Wescott, Dimitri Sevanov, and Lieutenant Roger Brown.  Captain Quinn Pearson and his team: Lieutenant Pai-an Li, Dr. TJ Ashley, and Dr. Ami Hendrisk.”

Taethos went around shaking hands with everyone, trying to remember their names and made comments that made the two female Lieutenants and doctor blush slightly.  When he was done, he turned back to Teyla.

“Did you bring anything to trade?” he asked.

“Yes,” she dug out a small bag full of sample medication that Dr. Beckett had given to her for some initial trading before they can firm out real agreements, and handed it over to Taethos.  “These are some medicinal supplies we use for treatment of wounds and whatnot.  I hope that your scientists would be able to study them and perhaps perfect them along with the healing balm that your people use.”

“Ah yes…I’ve also noticed that some of your team have cuts from the underbrush.  Perhaps if you’ll all step to the Main Hall, we can get them treated and talk more,” the tall leader said.

“Um…Taethos, sorry to bother you, but can I look at the device some more?” Rodney spoke up quickly.

“Why of course, Dr. McKay…after all, you are most welcomed to it.  If you can get the systems online we will most certainly be able to defend ourselves from the Wraith during their next culling!” Taethos grinned, “Some of my men will accompany you to help you with your research.”

“Uh huh,” Rodney didn’t really pay attention and instead turned away from the group and headed towards the area where the device was, Sevanov, Dr. Ashley, and Dr. Hendrisk following him.

Teyla shook her head, a rueful smile coming to her face before she turned back around, “My apologies Taethos.  Dr. McKay has been very excited to get back to working on the device since we’ve left it.”

“No worries Teyla Emmagan.  I see a happy soul when I see one.  Come, we shall talk more of what the Lanteans, Athosians, and our people can trade with each other,” he held out an arm to her and she accepted gracefully, ignoring the curious look Major Lorne gave to her.

                                    *                      *                      *

No one noticed when one of the villagers stayed behind; only a small child, he watched the Lantean party go into the village.  Making sure that no one was in hearing range, he pulled out a small circular device and whistled into it.  A series of whistles replied back from the device before he flicked a switch on and spoke into it.  “They have arrived…wait for my signal.”

He then shut off the device and ran back towards the village.

                                    *                      *                      *

Rodney let a smile blossom on his face as he approached the room the device was held in.  It was a little ways off from the village and in an underground bunker, which made him that there was probably more to the bunker than meets the eye, but he had yet to find a power source like a ZPM that would be able to raise the bunker.  The bunker was most definitely Ancient in design and looked very similar to that of the Atlantis, but Atlantis didn’t have this thing in it.

He was in his happy place on this planet.

“All right, Sevanov, I want you to start running E-M scans to see if you can find anything that would be able to power this little baby.  Ashley, I need you to run a few scans through the thing, and Hendrisk, um, follow me,” he waved to the scientists, dropping his own pack to the floor and walking towards what looked like a circular console board filled with buttons and a few symbols of Ancient writing.

He pointed to a secondary console.  “Since you have the gene, try seeing if you can activate something over there.”

“Yes sir,” the female doctor with a degree in engineering physics and astrophysics went to the station and began studying it.

Rodney knew that she was one of the new crew and contrary to everyone else’s belief, did memorize all of the scientific staff’s names and what their specialties were.  He had Dr. Ami Hendrisk’s recommendation from one of his former colleagues who was now residing in Germany.  He hoped that she would prove to be an asset since they were short on staff that had the natural gene instead of the gene therapy one.

Taking out his laptop and quickly plugging it to connect with the Ancient console he had been working from just yesterday, he tapped a few buttons and smiled.  “Good, now we’re in business,” watching as the readings from yesterday appeared and he began to type in a few equations.

He had been looking at the power readings that were obviously on, but the source of it was hidden, almost as if cloaked.  Figuring it was probably cloaked, he had tuned the laptop to see if there were any anomalous frequencies that would betray where the cloaking was coming from.  “Hmm…it says here that it’s not picking up anything,” he commented out loud.

“Nothing here either, Dr. McKay,” Hendrisk replied.

“I wasn’t talking to you, Hendrisk,” he snapped back, a bit annoyed, “just commenting to myself.”

There was no reply from the scientist and Rodney turned back to his readings.  He glanced sideways towards the console he was at and pushed a few buttons.  He had already gotten the console to work for him, sensing that he had the ATA gene, but so far, it just gave him little to no readings he could work with.  He had a vague idea of what the buttons did and tried to research some more in the village’s very extensive library, but it came up empty.  How the village preserved their library and other artifacts during the Wraith cullings after the device had failed was a mystery to him and Taethos seemed reluctant to explain how or why.  He hoped Teyla would have better luck in convincing the village chief to say so, after all, as childish as it was the village chief seemed to be taken by the Athosian.

Touching a few more buttons, he stepped back slightly and blinked in surprise as the console suddenly lit up, a hum filling the air.  “Whoa…”

“Dr. McKay?” the other three scientists stopped what they were doing and were staring at him and at the console.

He looked at them, a bit befuddled, but then approached the lit console and hesitantly reached out to touch one of the buttons on it.

Nothing happened.

There were three collective sighs of relief and Rodney glanced up and glared at all of them.  “What?  Did you think it was going to blow up?!”

Wisely, all three turned back to what they were doing and he shook his head before turning his attention back to the console.  He glanced at the readings on his laptop and noticed to some degree of curiosity that it was reading a higher than normal power output than what he had seen with the Atlantis consoles.  Just what was this thing using for power and what was it?

A thought occurred to him.

He snapped his fingers in the general direction of Hendrisk, “Hey, um, Hendrisk…get over here.”

“Sir?” Hendrisk came over, adjusting her glasses.

“Stand over there,” he pointed to a small raised circular platform where he was sure that was the place to operate the device.  He glanced up as she stood on the device and touched a few buttons on the panel.

Almost immediately Hendrisk was surrounded by a circular glowing panel encompassing her as the device also lit up.  “What do you see Hendrisk?” McKay was careful to monitor the power levels and different electrical outputs as he glanced back and forth from Hendrisk to his laptop and to the console.

“It’s…all Ancient writings, I can’t translate any of this stuff…” she had gotten over her initial fear of having the device activate and reached out a hand to touch a button…

“No wait!” Rodney shouted the warning a little too late just as the scientist touched a button…

Nothing happened.

After a few minutes of silence, Rodney let out a breath that he had been holding and got pointed looks from the other scientists.  He just glared at them before suddenly a holographic monitor popped up in front of the console he was working at, showing a bunch of Ancient writings and what looked like diagnostic systems.

“Did you touch...?” he asked in an absent tone as he stared at the readings, his mind trying quickly to translate the writings.  For the past three years, constant exposure to the Ancient writings made him efficient for a fast, if somewhat messy, translation in the field.  But he had to admit, even through his own ego, Dr. Jackson and Elizabeth would have an easier time translating this stuff and probably more accurately if they were actually here.

“No…I think it could be a delay in the system since it’s so old,” Hendrisk replied from where she stood.

“Of course it’s a delay,” he grumbled, tapping a few buttons on his laptop to synchronize with the Ancient hologram, “this thing hasn’t been activated-“

He trailed off as he looked more closely at the writings.  “Oh no…no, no, no…”  Typing furiously into his laptop, he pulled out the small Ancient life signs detector (doubled as his small pocket PC for now) and tapped a few buttons.

“Dr. McKay?” Hendrisk asked as the other two scientists stopped what they were doing and were staring at him.

“No, no, no…” he muttered, a feeling of dread and horror filling him.  He glanced up and noticed all of them looking at him.  “Hendrisk, get off of that thing, now!” he barked at the physicist who jumped off immediately.

The device turned off and the holographic projection dissipated, leaving them in the glow of their own lights set up in the area.

“Dr. McKay?” Dr. TJ Ashley asked, worry all over his features.  “Is there something wrong?”

“We can’t activate this,” he said, starting to pack up his laptop and shoving everything into his bag.

“What?  But I thought you said-“

“I was wrong,” he glared at the Ethopian national who blinked in confusion, “this isn’t some device we can use against the Wraith…its designed to kill Ancients…and us.”

“What?!” all three scientists looked shocked.

“We need to leave, now,” he shoved the last of his equipment into his pack and slung it around his back.  Tapping his radio he spoke into it, “Teyla?  Teyla its McKay…do you read?”

Static answered him and he glanced at his radio, puzzled.  “Hmm, maybe it doesn’t work down here with all of the shielding and stuff?” he wondered mostly to himself before gesturing for the others to follow him.

They trudged back up to the surface and Rodney clicked his radio a few times again.  “Teyla?  Major Lorne?  Anybody?”

Static still answered him and the bad feeling he had in his stomach started to grow worst.  “Um…TJ…go with Hendrisk to the gate and dial back.  Tell Elizabeth we may have a problem.  Dimitri, we’re going to the village to see if Teyla and the others are there.”  He drew out his handgun, a smooth confident motion that had been, to his chagrin at times, ingrained into him by Sheppard.

“Doc?” the young Russian was still just barely a graduate, fresh out of his masters program at MIT…

“Get your damn gun out, but don’t point it at anything.  We don’t know what’s going on and I don’t like it,” he rolled his eyes and started forward just as he heard the two other scientists go the opposite direction and back towards the Stargate.  Hopefully nothing had happened to Teyla or Major Lorne’s party; otherwise…he didn’t want to be stuck on this planet.

He decided to head to the village through its rougher back entrance, figuring if he could see anything suspicious, he would be able to escape quickly and find his way to the Stargate to tell Elizabeth to get Sheppard and a whole slew of Marines to help them.

“Doc, where are we going?” Sevanov asked in a hush voice as he half ducked through the brush and wooded area.

“The back entrance, now shut up and don’t say anything until I tell you to,” Rodney hated whiny, noisy scientists who never learned how to shut up.  Wisely, Sevanov didn’t say anything and the only sound was the crunching of their boots amongst the ground.  They quickly made their way through the woods and towards the edge of the village.

Crawling up behind a trunk of a large tree, he peeked beyond it to see the villagers milling about.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary…perhaps none of these people actually knew what they had in the underground area.  Curious though, was why their history books made no mention…

_Snap…_

Rodney froze.  That sound came from behind…  He turned around and cold fear gripped him.  It was…  Even his cat, Bernoulli wasn’t that huge…

“Oh my…l-large…c-cat,” he stared at the humanoid figure that towered over him, at least by two feet, and was staring down at him, sharp teeth bared and what looked like an energy weapon of sorts pointed at him.  The cat-like creature hissed at him, much like a Wraith would, and Rodney jumped.  Its dark brown fur was raised and it looked angry…

“Lower your weapon,” it hissed and McKay immediately dropped his gun, hands raised half way up.

“Don’t shoot, don’t shoot,” he muttered quickly, “nice kitty…”

The cat-like creature gave a yowl of anger and he jumped again.

“Okay, okay…s-sorry,” he apologized hastily.

The angry humanoid cat stared at him through narrowed slit eyes for a few seconds before suddenly clipping him in the back of his head.  Darkness consumed the Canadian scientist as he fell to the ground unconscious.

                                    *                      *                      *

Dr. Ami Hendrisk ran for her life.

Behind her she could hear the screams of Dr. Ashley along with the unearthly yowling of those horrific creatures that had ambushed them and were ripping him to pieces with their claws.

She had managed to scramble from their grip, though with wounds all over her body, and ran blindly towards the gate, not caring that the heavy underbrush was ripping into her clothes.  That was secondary pain.  Tears streamed down her face as she heard the distant rapid fire of P90s along with more howls and growls.

What were these creatures?!  Colonel Sheppard’s team and certainly Dr. McKay said that they had never even once encountered such creatures…none of the villagers seemed worried when they had met out in the clearing…was it because they had trespassed one too many times into the forest?!

“God no…” she choked out as she pushed past a thorny bush and stumbled into the clearing where the stargate stood.  She glanced around and saw a few rustling in the bushes and hurried over to the DHD and with her bloodied, shaking hands, punched in the coordinates to Atlantis.

The stargate wooshed to life and she input her code before running into the event horizon…

                                    *                      *                      *

The same child that had a circular looking device stepped out of the thorny bush, surprisingly unharmed and stepped carefully towards the DHD.  With each step, it was as if the child’s appearance disappeared and meshed with a darker, mottled furry skin, until all that was left was a small diminutive cat-like creature.

There were more rustling from the surrounding wooded area and a few more cat-like creatures came out.

“One escaped…” one of the cat-like creature hissed, staring at the stargate’s watery event horizon disappear.

“Yes,” the diminutive one replied, “but…the address…it can not be.  City of Alterans…”

“He did warn us that there were trespassers in the City of the Alterans.  For all we know, they can be the Asurans, but more evolved,” the same one replied.

“We shall wait.  They will return…” the smaller one held up a hand, “then we will find out for our selves why they have come in search of _Wra’ithgul_.”

                                    *                      *                      *

Living on the edge of a frontier gave you a sort of sixth sense as to when things were going to be wrong.  And most certainly being the Stargate Program or whatever branch of it definitely gave you that extra sense.  So when Sergeant Rawlings said that there was unscheduled off-world activation, Elizabeth knew that it was trouble…and it was something to do with the return trip to M3R-154.

“What’ve got?” she asked Sergeant Rawlings calmly.

“It’s Dr. Hendrisk’s IDC,” he replied.

“Open the iris,” she replied and the Lantean energy shield disappeared.  Immediately, the security team on guard at the gate readied their weapons, taking cover in the various corners and lower stairs in case any incoming fire was to come through.

She glanced up as she saw John walk in, concern etched into his features.  It was the dead of night and she knew that he had been sleeping, same as she.  However, he was completely alert and ready for anything.

“Unscheduled activation from M3R-154,” she answered his silent query.

“McKay shouldn’t be done yet…” he commented, puzzled.

She shrugged and turned back to watch the activity in the gateroom.

Elizabeth felt a shock run through her body as she saw Ami Hendrisk run through, covered in blood and multiple injuries.  She immediately touched her radio, “Medical team to the gateroom!”

Moments later, the stargate shut down, but she was already running down the stairs, John hot on her heels.  She arrived just as Carson and his medical team ran into the gateroom with a stretcher.  She stopped back just a few feet away from the collapsed Dr. Hendrisk and let Carson and the other medics stabilize her.

“Carson?” she asked quietly.

Apparently her query prompted a severe reaction in Ami as she twisted in the stretcher to look at her, startling some of the medics.

“Dr. Weir…!” Ami twisted to stare at her with eyes wide with fear, pulling on the oxygen mask and the hands of the medics that were trying to pull her back onto the stretcher.

Elizabeth took a half-step forward before Carson stopped in front of her, shaking his head.

“It’s best if you don’t talk to her right now, Elizabeth.  We need to get her stabilized,” he said.

“Dr. Weir…!” Ami gave a half shout of her name and Carson turned to the injured scientist.

“Please, miss, you’re bleedin’ all over the place,” he gave an unseen nod to one of the medics who began injecting her with what looked like a sedative.

“No…please…must,” Ami’s eyes started to glaze over and Elizabeth walked to her side, staring down at her with comforting look.

“It’s all right Ami…tell me later,” she gave her, what she hoped, was an encouraging smile.

“No…” Ami fought the drug’s effects, “Dr…McKay…Wraith…device…attacked…cat-creatures…captured…”  She finally succumbed to the drug and her eyes closed as she fell unconscious.

“We’ll do the best we can,” Carson patted her reassuringly on the shoulder as the medics rolled the stretcher away from the gateroom and towards the infirmary, before he followed them, giving orders on his radio for a team to standby for surgery.

Elizabeth watch them go, worry filling her at Ami’s message to her.  If Dr. McKay had discovered what the device on M3R-154 was in relation to how they can defeat the Wraith and had been captured…that meant…”

“Give me one hour to get a team ready and we’ll go after them,” John said beside her and she turned to face him, shaking her head.

“No,” she replied, her mind racing with possibilities.

“But you heard the doctor-“ John protested and she shook her head harder, emphasizing her point.

“We need to figure out what happened on the planet and until Carson has stabilized Dr. Hendrisk, no one is going back to that planet,” she stared firmly into his brown eyes, “no one.”

Touching her ear-radio she spoke into it, “Patch a call to the _Daedalus_.  As soon as they arrive, have Colonel Caldwell report down to me.”

She glanced back to John and saw the tiniest tremor of anger at not being able to help McKay and the rest of the team back on M3R-154, but he masked it down with a neutral expression.  It was times like these that she hated seeing him so hurt and unable to do anything, but she knew that if he went now, without any other intelligence, he would most likely be captured too, and that she could not afford.

“We’ll get Rodney, Teyla, and the others back, don’t worry,” she reassured him.

He nodded once, curtly before touching his own radio to probably wake Ronon up and gather a secondary team to go after the others.  She turned away and headed back up stairs to the control room.  The _Daedalus_ wasn’t due for another few hours and hopefully, by that time, Carson would have had Dr. Hendrisk stabilized.

                                    *                      *                      *


	3. Rescue

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

 **Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

 **Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, Shep/McKay friendship, hints of Ronon/Teyla, hints of Shep/Teyla.

 **Notes:** I might end up changing the rating back down to a PG-13 but it mostly depends on how much violence I use in this fic.  The R rating is mostly for later chapters…  Please tell me if I’m getting the characterizations of a few characters wrong!  This chapter was a total bitch to write…no one wanted to cooperate until the very end.

 

**Story:**

_Chapter 3 – Rescue_

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth could see John fidgeting with hastiness in the seat next to hers and knew that he wanted to get out and go to M3R-154 as soon as possible.  There were eight people sitting in the conference room.  Six of them were the rescue team; four of them Marines, Black Ops trained, and the other two were Ronon and John.  Next to her was Colonel Caldwell, who just minutes ago, beamed in from the _Daedalus_ , a grim look on his face.

Elizabeth didn’t blame him for his look; after all, the team sent through the gate along with at least half of Major Lorne’s team was formerly under his command.

“Carson says that Dr. Hendrisk has woken up and though she is still sedated, she has given notes on what she had encountered.  From what I can gather, Rodney and the other scientists separated from the Teyla and Major Lorne’s group before they got into the village and headed towards the device.  She doesn’t remember much except that Rodney told her to get off of the device, apparently they’ve got it working, then she remembers running through the woods, chased by what she claims are cat-like creatures…” she read off a sheet of paper that held Carson’s notes.

Daring to look up, the table was silent and both John and Colonel Caldwell had almost incredulous looks on their faces.  The Marines were professionally silent and had faces that could have been chiseled from rock.  However, the most curious expression out of all of the people present at the table was…

“Ronon?”

All eyes turned to the Satedan who was staring at a point in front of him on the table.  His hands were folded and elbows resting on top of the table, head resting on his hands and he looked a bit…pensive.  She waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts and saw the look of concern John shot towards her and silently agreed with him – this was the most unusual behavior she had observed in the Satedan since he had joined them two years ago.

“There have been legends among my people,” he started out hesitantly, “of what you call cats, of a race that existed along side the Ancestors and Wraith.  The history books barely make any mention, but we thought they died out…”

“Do you think they can be the ones that Dr. Hendrisk was talking about?” Elizabeth asked.

Ronon shrugged, indicating that he didn’t really know and that his knowledge of the subject was limited.

“Could there be something in the database?” Caldwell spoke up.

“Yes, but that would take time, and McKay, Lorne, and the others need us now,” John half-snapped at the Colonel, a frustrated expression on his face.  Her second-in-command turned to face her, “It’s the night time over there, puddle jumper in and out, they won’t even see us coming.”

“I thought you had said the clearing between the stargate and tree line was smaller than what a puddle jumper would be able to fit without hitting trees,” Elizabeth countered, giving him a steady look to not go on a half-planned rescue mission, “Colonel, I understand your desire to go in and rescue your people, but right now, we need an effective plan.  I won’t risk loosing anyone else.”

“Then have the _Daedalus_ drop us off!” Elizabeth was beginning to see the frustration well up considerably within him.  She knew his motto, it was the same as then-Colonel Jack O’Neill’s motto when he was in command of SG-1, leave no one behind.  And that motto was what was driving him right now, especially concern for Teyla and Rodney.

She turned to Colonel Caldwell who had a completely neutral expression on his face.  Ever since he had the _goa’uld_ parasite taken out of him, he had mellowed a bit, but she knew that he still harbored at least some resentment of being “cheated” out of his post as chief military officer of Atlantis.  “Colonel, how long would it take for the _Daedalus_ to reach the planet?”

Caldwell glanced down at the mission report he had been given when he beamed down before looking back up, “Four hours, give or take an hour or so.”

“You have your answer Colonel,” she looked at John, “I want radio contact between you and the _Daedalus_ by the hour along with Atlantis.”

John nodded sharply, a grim smile on his face as he and the rest of the table got up, a signal that the meeting was over.  He immediately gathered his stuff and went over to the Marines, talking to them quietly before they all saluted and left.

Elizabeth didn’t get up and instead watch him leave the conference room along with Ronon, the two men with similar grim expressions on their faces; expressions she had been seen far too often in recent months.  A quiet sigh escaped her lips and she rubbed her left temple, beginning to feel a headache coming on.

“Bad day at work?” Colonel Caldwell’s voice startled her and she looked up to see him still sitting at the conference table an unreadable expression on his face.

She smiled slightly at his attempted humor to lighten her mood, “Days like these are the worst.”

He nodded absently and got up, placing a hand on her shoulder, “We’ll get them back, I promise.”  He suddenly left, his boots clicking on the hard floors of the city as he headed back towards his ship.

She looked up, staring as he walked away, appreciating the gesture of comfort he gave before getting up herself.  This was no time to relax, and she needed to find any information regarding the _Klisa’nthus_ and those cat-like creatures on M3R-154.

                                    *                      *                      *

John could feel the low-level tension on the bridge of the _Daedalus_.  It probably was not the sight of four heavily armed marines all dressed in black, though that could have contributed to some of the tension, but it probably was because many of the crew knew at least someone who had been captured on M3R-154.  He had seen similar situations during his tour in Afghanistan when the Taliban kidnapped a few of the personnel.

They were about an hour away from the planet when they received a transmission from Atlantis.  He glanced at Caldwell as he took it and broadcasted it over the bridge, audio only since the subspace transmission didn’t allow any video.

“Colonel Caldwell, there’s been a problem.  Please hold position,” Elizabeth’s voice came over the transmission and John raised an eyebrow in silent surprise as he walked to hover behind Caldwell, Ronon joining him.

“Dr. Weir, what-“

“The natives on M3R-154 just returned the bodies of Dr. Ashley and Lieutenant Li,” Elizabeth sounded haggard over the comm. and the silence on the bridge was deafening with her announcement that a pin could literally drop and one would hear it three bulkheads away.

“What do they want,” John stared at a point outside the windows of the blue-white waves of hyperspace, willing himself not to stare at the shell-shocked expressions some of the crew was wearing.  He faintly realized that he sounded cold and professional, but chose to ignore any of that.

“They know you’re coming, however, I don’t think they know when or how.  We have one hour before they kill the next prisoner to open the shields on Atlantis to let them through,” she replied, regaining control of her emotions and her voice became a lot more professional.

“How the hell did they know?!” John was shocked.

“They scanned us, high frequency.  It affected some of our computers and Atlantis reacted as if it was a threat by manually shutting all of her doors,” the distinctive Czech-accented voice of Dr. Radek Zelenka came on.

“Can’t we just say that the shield is off and to tell them to go through?  I mean you’ve got men with guns there, so if they send someone through, we can shoot them on sight,” Ronon spoke up behind him and John absently nodded, not really caring if Elizabeth could see him or not.

“We did take down the shields when Dr. Ashley’s IDC came in, but raised it as soon as we realized it was their bodies.  It took us just over two hours to get both systems back online and for Atlantis to figure out that the scan didn’t threaten her,” Zelenka replied, frustration creeping in his voice, “and I can say, if we lie, they’ll probably scan us again and shut down our systems once more-“

“-And in two hours, two more will die,” Caldwell whispered before sitting straighter in his chair.  He turned to his second-in-command, Captain Dave Kleinman with a nod, “All hands stop.”

“All hands stop,” Kleinman echoed loudly over the internal comm. system and the ship dropped out of hyperspace.

John felt a rising anger grow within him and walked around the command console to face Caldwell.  “You can’t just do that!” he said, trying to keep his voice even, “McKay and the others are still out there!”

“Colonel, they might have sensors that we don’t know about,” Caldwell replied sharply, “and as you have noticed, they may be more than the primitive species of the villagers on the planet.  Until then, we proceed with caution.”

John frowned angrily at his statement, but he knew that Caldwell was right in more ways than one.  They really didn’t know what they were up against.  Even if it was just a primitive cat-like species attacking them, they did inhabit a planet where an Ancient device was placed and the Wraith that had not culled it for thousands of years before it failed.  And the fact that they had used a technology that had set Atlantis on edge…

“So what then?  We sit around?” he still wanted to get in the last jab.  He never did like Caldwell.  He did respect him to a certain extent, after all, the man saved his butt more than once, but that still didn’t mean he liked him.

“Captain, how far until we’re at the edge of their planetary orbit?” Caldwell ignored him and turned to his second-in-command.

“Fifteen minutes, sir,” Kleinman replied before tapping a few buttons on his console, “it would take the jumper another additional fifteen minutes to reach the planet.”

“So we’ve got half-an-hour to search and rescue the prisoners…” John muttered mostly to himself, before turning to Kleinman, “how far can the _Daedalus_ ’ sensors reach into the planet?  Any chance of picking up life signs?”

“Life signs may not do you any good Colonel if we pick up the villagers,” Caldwell looked confused but John shook his head.

“I just need a place to park the jumper,” he replied.

“Hermiod?” Caldwell shrugged at his statement as he patched through the Asgard.

“I can extend the life signs detector, but it will limit the range.  I recommend we move in closer-“

“Negative, we can’t chance it,” Caldwell replied, “boost it.”

There was a seemingly disgruntled noise from the Asgard before his connection cut off and John caught Caldwell rolling his eyes in exasperation before sitting upright once more as a screen came up, this one showing a map with a lot of dots…a lot more than John had expected.

“Looks like an army down there,” Ronon commented nonchalantly from behind and John gave him a sideways look before turning back to the map.  There were a few blank spots on the edges of the map and he noticed the cluster that was surely the village that wasn’t too far from a blank spot.  Hopefully no one would notice their arrival.

“I’ll send in an escort wing of X-302s-“

“Negative.  We don’t know what kind, if any, sensors they’re using,” he said shaking his head, “we’ll stay in radio contact within the hour.”  It was his cue for his men to head to the Puddle Jumper docked in the _Daedalus_ ’ bay, and he made a move to leave the bridge when both Elizabeth and Caldwell’s voices stopped him.

“Good luck,” the two said almost simultaneously and John half turned, giving a slightly strained lopsided grin.

“Thanks,” he replied before he headed out the bridge.  Even before he fully stepped out, Caldwell was already barking orders to his crew.  He hoped that they would be able to find Rodney and the others and get the hell out of there.

                                    *                      *                      *

Teyla knew that the first sign something had gone wrong was when she felt a wave of pain that consumed her whole being.  The second sign was that her eyes were closed and she was lying on a very hard, cold ground.  She slowly opened her eyes and looked around.  Reddish-brown walls covered with grime greeted her and the dim light given by small high windows cast shadows all around.

Beyond her sight to her right were bars…many bars, and many cells all interconnected together.  They looked like metal bars, nothing like the organic Wraith ones aboard their hive ships.

“Teyla?” Major Lorne’s voice made her suddenly sit up and she splayed out her arms to steady herself from the dizzy wave that spun circles in her vision.

“Whoa, take it easy, Teyla,” a strong arm held her steady as the dizziness subsided and leaned her gently against the grimy wall.  She closed her eyes briefly and when she thought she felt the nausea and dizziness pass she opened them again and glanced to her right to see Major Lorne staring at her, concern on his face.  “You okay?” he asked and she nodded slowly.

“I think so,” she worked her neck around, feeling the muscles pull and contract as she started to remember what had happened, “what happened after I was incapacitated?”

“I don’t remember much, but I do remember being dragged out of that son of a bitch’s house and into the woods.  Next thing I know, I’m here,” Lorne rubbed the back of his neck, “only Pearson is here, don’t know what happened to the rest of his team.  My team’s also here, and I think Dr. McKay has a concussion; he’s been mumbling pretty badly for the past hour or so.”

Teyla glanced to her left to see Lieutenant Wescott watching over the scientist, occasionally putting a cold compress on his head.  It was then that she noticed she still had her vest on, but no weapons.  Surprise must have registered on her features as Lorne nodded.

“Me too.  I don’t think these…cat-things see us as too much of a threat,” he said.

“Can we pool our resources together to make something explosive to get us out of here?” she asked.

He nodded towards where Sevanov, Captain Pearson, and Lieutenant Brown were huddled in the opposite corner of their large cell, a pile of stuff taken from their vests in the middle of their huddle.

“Have any of them stopped by?” she asked.

“No, oddly.  I don’t know what’s going on, but-“

“It is unusual,” she commented agreeing with him, “I have never seen anyone treat prisoners so lightly.  Perhaps it is meant to intimidate us?”

“Great job with their claws,” a groan came from McKay and Teyla turned to see him attempt to sit up, wincing as he pressed a hand to his forehead, ignoring Lieutenant Wescott’s efforts to hold him to the ground.  “Oooo…that’s not good…”

“Dr. McKay?” she asked, watching him splay his arms out, leaning against the wall as he blinked owlishly a few times.

“Yep…that’s a sore spot,” he winced again as his fingers found a tender spot on the back of his head before he propped himself back up against the wall, waving away the Lieutenant’s efforts to sponge his forehead again.  “Look, I’m fine.  Thank you, but I’m fine,” he said in a curt voice to the Lieutenant who just gave him an icy look before glancing at Teyla and Lorne.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught Lorne waving Wescott to the other group and the Lieutenant shrugged silently before getting up and heading over to the huddle just as McKay slid over to them, still a bit disoriented, but otherwise looking more alert.

“Ashley and Hendrisk aren’t here?” he asked, looking at the huddle of four before staring all around him.

“It would seem that they have escaped,” she replied.

“Or killed,” he mumbled.

“I rather believe they have escaped and are now getting reinforcements from Atlantis,” she said in a slightly stubborn voice.  If there was one quirk she usually found fault with in Rodney was that he was too pessimistic at times.

He made a noise that sounded like agreement before he suddenly sat up straighter.  “The device!”

“What?” both Teyla and Lorne said at the same time.

“The-The device!” he snapped his fingers, “It isn’t Ancient design.”

“But I thought you said there was Ancient text all over it?  I mean, the books show it too,” Lorne looked confused.

“Yes,” McKay said, “but that’s just to throw whoever’s looking at it off.  Look, I don’t know who built it, but it’s designed to kill us humans, Ancients, whatever.”

Teyla was shocked.  “Are you sure?”

“I did a rough translation before we left, but I’m pretty sure it said that it’s to kill humans and Ancients,” he replied, rubbing his face tiredly.

“Could it be possible that Taethos and his people don’t know about it?” Lorne asked.

“It is possible, but somehow, I doubt it may be highly unlikely,” Teyla narrowed her eyes, suppressing a wave of anger that was uncharacteristic of her.

“Teyla?” Lorne and McKay looked confused.

“I believe some of Taethos’ people truly do not know what the device is, but Taethos knew,” she said with a hint of finality in her voice.  She did not want to talk about what had happened to either McKay or Lorne.  She had sensed that the leader of the village was a womanizer of sorts and had indeed separated the women of the group, including Lieutenant Li, Lieutenant Wescott and herself to have a talk with them privately.

The talk itself was simple enough; Taethos had asked if the three of them could possibly stay as ambassadors to his people for a few more days and perhaps teach the women in the village to defend themselves.  There was a more subliminal meaning to his request that she had pointedly ignored until shouts of Major Lorne on the radio alerted the three of them that something was wrong.

It was then at least five of what Major Lorne had called them cat-things emerged from the shadows, seemingly having blended into the wall and ambushed them.  The three of them had fought against their ambushers, until Taethos’ human appearance had melted into one of those cat-like creatures and killed Lieutenant Pai-an Li.  Her shock at seeing someone literally shape shift was a mistake as she was knocked out by one of the creatures and then the next thing she knew, she had woken up in the cell.

“I mean, how can you be sure-“

Lorne waved a hand to shut McKay up just as Teyla picked up on footsteps coming their way.  Captain Pearson and the rest who were trying to figure out a way to free themselves with their equipment quickly shoved things into their vest pockets and scooted towards them to join them.  Both Dimitri Sevanov and Lieutenant Wescott lay on the ground, pretending to be half-awake.

The heavy footsteps got closer and across from their cell, the doors opened to reveal Taethos and three heavily armed cat-like guards.  She noticed that one of the guards was a lot shorter than the others but seemed to command the respect of the guards and even, to her surprise, Taethos, though he acted like he was in charge.

“Taethos,” McKay said as he managed to pull himself to a standing position, despite the obvious dizziness that was still plaguing him.  He must have been hit a lot harder than he was letting on, Teyla realized.

She also stood up, glaring at the leader of the village who gave her a small smile.  She immediately also noticed that Lorne had half-stepped in front of her along with Captain Pearson.  She appreciated the support from the people from Earth.

“Ah, you’re awake Dr. McKay.  That is good…I was starting to worry that you were permanently incapacitated,” Taethos smiled congenially at them, his hands clasped in front of him, a totally different demeanor than what he had showed when they had met him days ago.  “And you too Teyla Emmagan and Major Lorne,” Taethos smiled at them as if nothing was wrong, “and I see your men and women are also all right.”

“What do you want?” Major Lorne stepped forward, and for a moment, Teyla had the sudden image of Colonel Sheppard overlaying Lorne’s face and realized how similar the two were.  She had always thought that Lorne’s command style was different than Sheppard’s, but she knew that he could not have chosen a better second-in-command than Lorne.

“What I want is quite similar to your goals, Major.  And the goals of your expedition team,” Taethos spread his arms out, his boisterous voice now low and sinister.  “I want to gather the Lantean technology.”

“It wouldn’t do you any good, you don’t have the gene,” Teyla knew that Lorne had read the brief notes given to him by Sheppard before he went off-world.  It seemed that none of the villagers actually had the Ancient gene.

“Unless your true form enables you to manipulate the technology,” McKay spoke up.

“I have no-“

“Oh cut the crap.  You’re like, giant cats,” Teyla glanced worriedly at McKay as he snorted derisively.  Judging from experience, she knew that sometimes, it was bad to antagonize the enemy, especially if they were held prisoner, and if the person doing the antagonizing was Dr. McKay.

There were three very loud, very angry hisses from the creatures, but Taethos just stared at McKay with a critical eye and she did not like the gleam in them.

“Be careful Dr. McKay, you are treading a fine line,” Taethos warned softly before to the shocked gasps of surprise, even from McKay, his human features seemingly melted as dark black fur appeared along with whitish streaks.  His voice became a lot more guttural and there were hints of a feline quality that Teyla would have never recognized if she hadn’t heard an accidental recording of Dr. McKay’s cat, Bernoulli on of the _Daedalus_ ’ supply trips a few months ago.  “We could have killed you the moment you stepped through the _Chappa’ai_ ,” he hissed, “but we’ve decided to keep you alive for the moment.”

Taethos suddenly cocked his head to the side as if listening for something before a sinister smile that stretched across his face.  “It sounds like your friends are here to rescue you…”

It was then, that Teyla could hear the faint distant sounds of gun fire…a lot of gun fire.  That meant there was a serious battle going on in the distance.  They watched as Taethos gave them an ominous smile before walking out, the other cat-like guards following him.

However, the shorter, diminutive one stayed behind, staring at them with an expressionless face.

“You are trying to build an explosive to leave here,” the small cat-like creature stated before coming forward and his clawed hands wrapped themselves around the bars, “it is useless.”

“Well forgive us for trying?” McKay had sat back down to lean against the wall, a slightly pained expression on his face.

“He requires medical treatment,” the alien stated in a flat voice staring at both her and Lorne, “as does the female soldier.”

Teyla turned and saw that Lt. Wescott indeed was looking pained, but kept a very firm grip on her emotions.  She turned back to face the cat-like creature who kept staring at them, its slit-shaped eyes a bit unnerving.

Suddenly, there was movement from its claws and Teyla found herself holding something in her hands that looked like a bag of pasty-white stuff.  She glanced back up at the alien who was still staring at them.

“Heal them.  We do not wish them to be too injured before negotiations are concluded,” the creature commanded before he turned and walked away through the doors that he had come through with Taethos.

“Wait,” Teyla stepped forward, sensing something different about this cat-like creature.  The alien stopped and turned back around, the same blank-yet-baleful look in his features.  “What is your name?”

“Akiesios,” the smaller cat-like creature replied before turning back around and leaving, the doors closing behind him.

Teyla let a hint of a smile cross her lips as she realized that this particular cat-like creature was more sympathetic to them than Taethos or the others.  She hoped that by the time these creatures were finished with whatever negotiations they were conducting, that perhaps Akiesios could help them out.

Or by the time the rescue team came for them, they would be able to escape with the creature’s help.

                                    *                      *                      *

John kept his head down as beam weaponry, unlike Wraith stunners, gorged new holes into the corner of the wall he was hiding.  It was almost like being hit by the fiery blasts of the Jaffa staff weapons.  Where the hell did these weapons come from?  They sure weren’t present when his team first gated through a few days ago.  All the villagers had were bows, arrows, spears, and swords.

“Michaels!” he called out over the din of exploding shards of plaster and stone, grabbing the attention of one of the members of his team who was a few feet away from him, backed against another wall.

The Air Force Black Ops member nodded curtly lifting up his P90 and firing a few bursts before ducking back into his hiding spot, indicating that he was watching for his signals.

He made a hand motion for him to warn the others and held up a grenade he had in his hands.  He gave him a curt nod before turning further down the hall behind him where three other hidden Black Ops soldiers Johnston, Walker, and Belaqua watching their six, were, occasionally firing into different hallways to deter anyone from following them.

“Toss it, I’ll cover you,” Ronon’s gruff voice spoke behind him and John primed the grenade before taking a peek out of his cover.  Just as he did that, the familiar whine of Ronon’s gun above his head before shots rang out of it.  He tossed the grenade, getting a good look at their attackers since they walked from their cloaked jumper into the village and into an ambush.

They looked like something out of a B-rated horror movie.  Cats.  Giant ones hold guns and looking very pissed.  Ducking back, he covered his head with his hands as Ronon and the others did the same.  Seconds later, there was a loud explosion followed by a wave of heat and wind from the exploded grenade.

Coming up from his crouched position, he saw that Michaels was already ahead of him, ducking into the still fiery hallway, P90 blazing as he mowed down whatever resistance met him.  He quickly followed behind him, taking out any that he had missed, Ronon and the others taking up the rear.

Suddenly one of the soldiers behind him let out a strangled scream and John stopped dead in his tracks, spinning around and bringing his P90 up just in time to see claws raking a bloody and fatal path across Belaqua’s neck.  The cat-like creature that was holding Belaqua’s now limp body tossed it away as if he was a rag doll and yowled at them.

Even without thinking, John fired his gun, spraying the creature in a hail of bullets as it charged at them.  Apparently he wasn’t the only one firing as both Johnston and Walker also fired.  The creature fell heavily to the ground in a messy splatter of blood and guts in front of John.  But it didn’t stop there as more creatures emerged from the hallways that they had just vacated and charged at them.

“Cover fire!” he shouted as he emptied the clip and slammed in a new one before firing at the charging angry creatures.

He raked let loose small bursts of fire at the center masses of each one that came at him, before suddenly a grunt next to him made him turn slightly to see Ronon collapse to the ground, having taken a blast to his side.  “Ronon!” he shouted, trying to see if the large Satedan was still conscious but there was no movement.  “Shit…” he cursed softly before quickly reaching down to the man’s neck and found that Ronon still had a pulse.

Glancing around, he ducked as one blast nearly took his head off and grabbed the man’s jacket and tried to drag him.  “Lay off the food, will ya?” he grunted softly to himself as he found that the Satedan was very heavy to move.  Desperation filled him as he glanced to his left just in time to see Michaels take a blast straight to his face, sending him two feet into the air before he collapsed to the ground, headless.

“Shit, shit, shit…” he cursed as he dropped Ronon where he was and fired at a creature that had been trying to ambush him.  A sudden prickle of danger on the hairs of his neck made him turn around, but it was too late.  Searing pain scorched across his body as a blast took him straight in the stomach.  He fell to the ground and blackness engulfed him.

                                    *                      *                      *

Taethos stood above the unconscious and bloodied form of Colonel John Sheppard, a smile appearing on his face.  He holstered his weapon, a tube that was half of the length of a human’s arm but with a pod-like thing at the end where the weapon discharged its blasts.

“Tell him we have his quarry and we expect negotiations to be in full swing within two hours,” he barked to one of his subordinates who immediately nodded and headed off in the direction of another hall.

He waved two more of his subordinates forward, “Get these two down to the cells and have them healed.”

“What of the rest, Commandant?” one of them asked.  A cruel looking wolfish smile appeared on Taethos’ face as he looked beyond the two prisoners and towards the two other soldiers that were still alive, albeit injured.

“Kill them.  Send the heads to Atlantis with a warning that if any rescue attempt is made, whether by space or through the _Chappa’ai_ , the next one to die will be Colonel Sheppard,” he growled.

                                    *                      *                      *

 


	4. Unexpected

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

**Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, Shep/McKay friendship, hints of Ronon/Teyla, hints of Shep/Teyla.

**Notes:** I might end up changing the rating back down to a PG-13 but it mostly depends on how much violence I use in this fic.  The R rating is mostly for later chapters…  The italics on certain words used between the Atlantis expedition and the aliens are mixed up in this one – it’s a term of pronunciation.  When the aliens use it on their own, they pronounce it correctly, hence no italics.  When the others use it, if they get it right, no italics, if they get it wrong, they get italics.

**Story:**

_Chapter 4 – Unexpected_

 

Elizabeth refused to let the torrent of emotions swirling in her show on her face and instead kept her mouth in a firm grim line.  Even though the cat-like creatures had told her that they weren’t coming through the stargate at this time, they did activate the MALP by the gate and showed the bloodied and dead forms of the four Black Ops Marines that she had sent with Colonel Sheppard before telling her that they were going to send the bodies through.

The gate guards had immediately readied their weapons as soon as she gave the order for the shield to be lowered and true to their word, four bodies tumbled out of the event horizon.  Even before Carson was up the ramp to the main area to take care of the bodies of the soldiers, the shield was back up and the connection closed.

Now, she sat at her desk, her left hand acting as a pedestal to her head that felt like lead.  Just what were those creatures after?  Why were they respectful enough to return the bodies and make the promise not to come through when they could have easily done so?

She tapped a few buttons on the screen of her computer with her pen.  Like Stargate Command, they kept recordings of every audio or video file that was transmitted through the stargate.  She brought up the most recent file.  Fast-forwarding to a point near the end, she played it and sat back, rubbing her temples to ease a headache that had been growing for a while now.

“…last attempt to assault our base failed.  If you do not cease your activities, we will consider the life of your teams forfeit and will not hesitate to start killing them.  Starting with the one you call Colonel Sheppard,” it was the voice of the creature who called himself Taethos, the supposed leader that John and the others met a few days ago and had treated them hospitably.

“All we offered was the hand of friendship and you attack us?” she heard herself reply, echoing the sentiments of all those on the base and aboard the _Daedalus_ who was patched in to listen.

“We have our reasons.  You were defiling our sacred Sanctuary, the _Wra’ithgul_ as well as attempting to destroy it,” Taethos said in a calm, yet angry voice, “such acts will not be let go so easily.”

“It was just a misunderstanding-“

“No.  You misunderstand us.  We are _Klisa’nthus_.  We do not forgive,” Taethos said with a hint of finality before he cut off the transmission.

The recording stopped and Elizabeth stared out of her office’s window, lost in thought.  At least they knew what the cat-like creatures were.  How they were undetected by John and his team in their initial met and greet of the people, she did not know.  Now, he was captured along with Ronon and she had four more dead members of her expedition.

The _Klisa’nthus_ had demonstrated no remorse in killing her people, yet were sadistically reverent when returning them.  Just what the hell were they playing at?  She rubbed her head in frustration.  She had ordered Caldwell not to send anymore men in, nor attack the planet from orbit and he had reluctantly obeyed.  She didn’t know what kinds of weapons capabilities these creatures had, but obviously, they were on par at least with probably goa’uld technology, especially after what Carson and Dr. Biro concluded after examining one of the Marines.  Death by a close range blast that looked like it came from a staff weapon.

Lowering the shield was not an option as it was U.S. policy to never negotiate with terrorists, but letting her people die, was also not an option.  She had wanted Caldwell to try to beam John and the others up to the Daedalus, but he had reported that as soon as they entered the village, they lost all signs of them, as if a shield was preventing them from accessing the Asgard beaming technology.

Even Hermiod was a bit puzzled and sounded shocked.

There was a gentle knock on her door and she looked up to see Radek poking his head in, a hesitant expression on his face.  She smiled tiredly at him and gestured for him to come in.

“Am I interrupting?” he asked in his Czech-accented English.

“No,” she shook her head, too weary to get up to greet him as he nodded and sat down in front of her, “what do you have for me?”

“I’ve been running over the initial notes that Rodney gave me before he went on the return trip,” Radek explained.

“Yes, I’ve been trying to also translate the text on the device, but it doesn’t seem to amount to anything,” she replied.  Truth was, she didn’t really get a good chunk of time to look over the text, having to deal with the crisis going on.

“I know,” he replied before handing over his tablet PC, “there’s something you should know.”

Elizabeth stared at him puzzled.  She didn’t like how ominous his voice had gotten.  Taking the tablet PC into her hands, she looked down at it, seeing numbers, graphs and a bunch of other things she didn’t quite understand.  “What is this?” she asked, looking up at Radek as he sat down in one of the two chairs in front of her desk.

“My knowledge of Ancient text isn’t as well as yours or Rodney’s, but from what I could piece together, it seems to be the instruction manual of sorts for the device,” Radek said calmly, “it’s not a Wraith weapon as we had first thought…”

He pointed to two of the symbols that Elizabeth recognized as a negative and the symbol for Wraith.  “The Wraith symbol appears all over the text, but this is the only spot that it shows up.  From what I can gather, it seems to rely on the idea that this weapon will _prevent_ the Wraith from ever appearing again.”

“That’s the symbol for Atlantis,” Elizabeth noticed a few symbols over from the Wraith one, “no wait—the symbol for Lanteans…and…that says Tau’ri.”

Radek nodded silently, his face grim.  It was then that it hit her what the true nature of the device was.  It was a weapon.  A weapon designed to destroy the Lanteans and even humans like the Athosians or even them.  It would eliminate the Wraith’s main food source and thus turn them into cannibals and eventually it would kill them.

“But what race would build such a thing?  The Ancients?” she asked mostly to herself as she stared at the text, part of her still trying to deny what it really was.

“Maybe it was built during the war?” Radek suggested.

Elizabeth nodded, her mind racing of different possibilities before she looked up at the Czech scientist, “Keep your team working on this.  Grab Dr. Wetherby and Matsumoto and his team of linguists if you have to.  I want to know the full statistics of this weapon and what the device actually says.  Maybe the _Klisan’thus_ don’t really know what they have and hopefully we can barter with them to get the others back.”

Radek nodded and left just as she touched her ear where her radio ear-set was sitting on.  “I need to patch a call through to Colonel Caldwell…” she spoke into it.  Perhaps Hermiod would know something about the _Klisan’thus_ , after all the Asgard were one of the oldest races in the known galaxies.

                                    *                      *                      *

The sharp searing pain in his stomach startled John from the darkness that was unconsciousness.  He opened his eyes with a wince and blinked owlishly a few times to let them adjust to the light that was pouring from windows in the room he was in.  It was barren and seemingly covered in reddish hues.  He was definitely lying on a chilly, hard floor as the back of his head and his finger tips were cold.

“Do you feel any pain?” a voice to his right suddenly made him turn his head sharply, shooting pain throughout his whole body as his stomach twisted in protest.  But the pain was forgotten for a second as he stared into the face of what looked like a very large cat…its slit-like eyes unblinking and staring back at him.

“Yeah...” he slowly propped himself up with his hands and leaned against the wall of what looked like his cell.  “Slight pain on the back of my head…you know a bump of sorts…”

“You project sarcasm…you are awake, good,” the cat-like creature, on John’s second glance, was at least a foot shorter than him, stepped back before picking up his vest from the floor.

He noticed that the lower half was a bit frayed and burnt…a sign that they had stripped it from his body when he had been shot by the staff blast.  Glancing down at himself, he was mildly surprised to see that his black tee-shirt, while having a gaping hole where his stomach was, bandages covered his stomach and it looked like blood hadn’t seeped through.

“You’ve sustained severe injuries following the _za’kutus’_ blast at close range.  Had you not been healed right away, you would be dead right now,” the cat-like creature said bluntly and he stared up at alien, his eyes wary.

“Thanks…I think,” he still didn’t know if this creature was a friend or foe.  Right now he was banking on foe since the creature did look like one of those things that had attacked them once they had landed on the planet.

“I was ordered to heal you,” the cat replied shortly, “According to our leader, you will prove useful during negotiations.”

“Negotiations?”

“With the people of your planet and with our allies…”

“You guys wouldn’t happen to have a name for your…people…?”

“ _Klisan’thus_ ,” the alien ran a scanner like object over his wound, “we are _Klisan’thus_.”

“Oh…” John nodded, a smiling grimace on his face before he caught the vest that had been suddenly thrown at him, the alien still holding the square-wand-like object.

“Put that on.  You must look presentable,” the diminutive Klisan’thus ordered.

“We’re going somewhere?” John eased himself into his vest, noticing that while he had been woken up by the initial sharp shooting pain, it was easing minute by minute.  He had to have been unconscious for at least a few hours, but no medicine no matter what was in this galaxy or in the Milky Way save for a goa’uld sarcophagus was capable of healing wounds so fast.  What did the alien do to have him heal in such a rapid fashion?

“Our allies told us that you had unleashed the Wraith upon us all.  They told us that if we captured you and your soldiers they would be able to demand the weapon to put the Wraith back to sleep.”

“Yeah…well your allies are wrong-“

“You deny you woke the Wraith from their hibernation?!”

“No-“

“Then you put forth such lies on your mouth.  And to say, you came to claim the _Wra’ithgul_ …your kind are more foolish than we had ever thought,” the alien stared at him with narrowed slit eyes.

“Listen…Taethos, the leader of the village who was closest to that device told us that we can study it.  That’s all we were doing…we weren’t going to activate it or anything,” John slowly stood up, using the wall as a prop as he blinked rapidly to alleviate the dizziness from his body.

“I was told your kind had activated the device,” the alien said stiffly, “and since your scientists were inclined to examine the device, it would have devastating consequences.”

“Like what?  Like it’s going to kill-“  John abruptly stopped as he heard the sound of marching feet coming towards them and eased himself away from the wall, standing as best as he could.  He still felt twinges of pain from his stomach and he felt like his head was spinning, but he stood as straight as he could, ignoring his discomforts.

“You…” John was surprised to see Taethos surrounded by at least a contingent of four of the Klisan’thus, all of them armed to the teeth with the shorter versions of what looked like staff weapons, _za’kutus_ , and a few sharp looking blades.

“Colonel Sheppard…good to see you again, though I wish it was better circumstances,” Taethos said congenially as they stopped in front of the cell that he was in.

“You sold us out, you son of a bitch!” John wanted to lunge at the man, but all he could do in his weakened condition was managing a half-step forward.  Even that made Taethos’ guards hiss in anger and point their weapons at him.

“Do not try to fight, Colonel Sheppard…I have healed you, yes, but you are as weak as a kitten at the moment and these guards will not hesitate to kill you as you had killed so many of our brethren,” the alien who was still holding the scanner device said, approaching him and putting a clawed hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, well your kind killed a lot of my men and women who are under my command.  We don’t really like that,” out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the wickedly sharp looking claws dig into his shoulder in a warning gesture.

“Take him,” Taethos gestured for two of his guards to open the door to his cell while the other two stepped in and approached him.

The last thing John saw before darkness claimed his vision again was the fist of one of the creatures slamming into his face.

                        *                      *                      *

Akiesios frowned slightly as the human known as Lt. Colonel John Sheppard collapsed to the ground.  He was saved from a particularly painful landing by only his claws gripping the vest he had told the human to wear.  Gently setting him on the ground he watched as Taethos’ guards picked Sheppard up unceremoniously and carried him out, on their way to the interrogation chamber.

“You needn’t be so harsh,” he commented with a raised eyebrow at Taethos who had transformed into his true form.

“Sympathizing with the enemy Akiesios?” Taethos asked.

“Just considering the fact that I don’t want to patch him up again; he takes up too much of my time,” the diminutive Klisan’thus shot back.

“You have your orders Akiesios.  Remember, I am in charge of the mission here,” Taethos replied, “cross me and you will pay ten-fold.”

“You’d think I’d be stupid enough to cross you?”

“Check up on the other prisoners.  See how much they know about the Wra’ithgul,” Taethos ordered before walking away, leaving him alone.  Akiesios stared at the taller Klisan’thus’ back, his eyes unreadable his claws flexing in slight anger.  Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly he spun on his heel and walked the maze of corridors to the other prisoner area where the rest of Colonel Sheppard’s team were held.

He noticed to some degree of irony in his opinion that they had all stiffened up from their relaxed positions when he walked into their field of vision.  He could smell their concern and even hints of fear even before they could hear his footsteps.  A quick glance over the others told him that the female Athosian of the group had did as he had asked and healed the others who weren’t looking too healthy with the white healing paste he had given to her.  He also noticed that treatment had begun on the Satedan warrior while still lying on the floor of their cell, but was completely awake and staring at him with narrowed eyes.

He had to wonder why an Athosian and a Satedan would join these humans?  As far as he knew, they were all independently governed people and all had high morale standards.  According to the reports he had read and what he had observed, these…humans weren’t to be trusted.  Yet, both the Athosian and Satedan had joined them.  He had his doubts on the veracity of truth the leader of this motley band had spoken of only moments before, but still, he knew he had to dig deeper.  Too many things were at stake…

He realized he had just been staring at them when the nervous scientist, the one Taethos had called Dr. McKay spoke up, still leaning against the wall, his head now wrapped up in white gauze.  “What are you staring at?!  Do I have something on me?!”

Akiesios blinked in surprise at the man’s blunt words.  He would have thought the humans were more tactful, like the Colonel or even some of his other men, but this was…refreshing to say the least and at most, a bit annoying.

“I don’t think its wise to antagonize the one holding us, Doc,” the man who had been identified as one of the Colonel’s men and the ranking military officer on the return trip, Major Lorne, said quietly.  Akiesios turned to see the Major hide something and tilted his head, wondering if he should demand that the Major hand over whatever he was hiding.  He had made sure, before the prisoners were dumped into their cell, that all of their vests and pockets were emptied of things that could potentially be cobbled together into weapons or a means of escape.

He had left foodstuffs within their pockets, so that he didn’t have to worry about them getting hungry until probably days later, but still…if the Major was hiding something, maybe he had missed something during his search?

Deciding to ignore what he had seen, he turned back to Dr. McKay, “Your commanding officer is right, Doctor.  Any unpleasant words towards me, will not bode you well.”

“What’s worst than being caught by a bunch of cats?”

Akiesios couldn’t help but let loose a hiss of anger at the derogatory term which made the Doctor immediately shut up and look worried.  “We have begun negotiations with your leader.  If you do wish the negotiations to be successful, I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself.”

“Where’s Sheppard?” the Satedan suddenly croaked from his position on the ground, still staring at him with narrowed eyes.

Akiesios wondered if he should tell them that their ranking officer was alive.  The Satedan must have already told the others that he came with the Colonel and four courage, though now quite dead, men to rescue them.  But he also knew that Taethos wanted to keep the secret of the Colonel’s existence from the others, to bury their hope so to speak.  He hadn’t witnessed who Taethos was talking to negotiate with the humans’ leader, but he figured that if they were able to penetrate that deeply into the confines of their base with gunpowder based projectile weapons, then their leader must be someone strong.  It also meant that these humans were far more advanced than they had realized before.  It also meant that the Wraith probably knew about the advance humans since a majority of human technology he had seen so far was nearly of Genii level.

He had never seen such advancement past the Genii’s level of technology.  It was a wonder why these people wanted to activate the Wraith’gul.  Power of that advancement drew towards more power…

However, the thing that puzzled Akiesios ever since they had caught these humans trying to access the Wraith’gul, was that how they were able to do so…  As far as he knew, only those who were the _Alin’thus_ were able to do so.  Taethos didn’t say anything about it and he wondered if their leader knew of it.

“How did you arrive here?  We had the Chapp’ai heavily guarded,” he decided to ignore the Satedan’s question.

The Satedan fell silent, closing his eyes and ignoring him.  He stared at the burly man for a few more seconds before he noticed a peculiar expression on Dr. McKay’s face.

“Do you wish to tell me how this Satedan and five of you humans arrived here without going through the Chapp’ai?”

“You said _Chapp’ai_ …” the doctor snapped his fingers a couple of times, the peculiar expression widening further, “no one here says _Chapp’ai_ …”

Akiesios raised a furred eyebrow.  The way the doctor said ‘here’…  “You are not of this galaxy?”

“McKay…” the senior military officer of the group, a dark-haired man whom Akiesios knew as Major Lorne, no first name given, said, his tone a warning.

“What’s the harm?  It’s like these guys probably never heard of the _Goa’uld_ ,” the doctor said, waving a hand absently in his direction.

Akiesios felt his breath hitch and a pit of dread filled him.  These humans knew of the Goa’uld!  They knew about the foul creatures…the failure…the…  “What,” he tried to keep his voice composed, but was dismayed to find that his own voice was that of a guttural growl, “do you know of the Goa’uld.”

As much as it would have amused him on another level, he saw the surprised and shocked expressions of all of the people within the cell save for the Athosian and Satedan, before the doctor opened and closed his mouth several times.  “You…know of the Goa’uld?” he squeaked out.

“Speak!” Akiesios wrapped a clawed hand around one of the bars and shook it, disappointment and anger filling him.

“Um…um,” the doctor blabbered slightly before snapping his fingers, “parasitic possessing lifeforms that first tried to inhabit the Unas then made the jump to possess humans like us?”

The words that came tumbling out of the Dr. McKay’s mouth tore through Akiesios like a za’kutus blast and an unbidden howl of anger and despair emerged from his mouth.  He released his death grip on the bar and paced around, his thoughts a storm.  The Goa’uld were still alive!  And they had become the thing that they had feared for so long…what had happened?  Another failure on their part...

He glanced back at the humans in the cell, and saw that a majority of them had shrank back, afraid from his howling and he stepped back towards them.  “You are not from this galaxy…”

“No,” Major Lorne stepped forward, his posture confident, his tone no nonsense, “we aren’t.”

“The _Goa’uld_ are only confined to a single galaxy and that is of where the _Alin’thus_ reside.  For them to have spread so far,” he narrowed his eyes slightly, “that is your home galaxy is it not?”

“Perhaps,” the Major replied evasively and Akiesios held up the scanner he had used on Colonel Sheppard.  Tapping a few buttons he adjusted the frequency of the scanner and quickly pointed it at each person within the cell, including the Athosian and Satedan.  If it was true…he didn’t trust any of them not to be possessed by the Goa’uld.  His scanner beeped a soft negative on any traces of Goa’uld possession and he blinked, puzzled.  How could this be?  If what the doctor had said was true…

“You are all not possessed by the Goa’uld,” he whispered.

“You can tell with that thing?” the doctor slowly stood up and approached him, staring at the scanner he had in his hand, “hmm…looks like one of those Ancient devices too.”

“Ancients?!” one of Akiesios’ eyebrows shot up in surprise.  That was what the Tau’ri called-

“McKay, shut up,” Lorne pushed the doctor back and he noticed that an expression of chagrin appeared on the doctor’s face as he realized he had said too much.

A thought occurred to Akiesios…just how did Colonel Sheppard and his men get onto the planet?  Did these humans with their projectile weaponry have such a ship?  And where did they get the knowledge of Ancients and Goa’uld?  How were they able to activate the Wraith’gul?

Perhaps Taethos knew more than he was letting on, and if so, maybe the people they were negotiating with to placate the Wraith were wrong.  He had to find out for himself…  Spinning on his heel, he quickly walked out of the cell, leaving the bewildered prisoners behind, his thoughts dark.  From the start, he knew that this whole mission was wrong…

                                    *                      *                      *

He should have known that the word _routine_ was usually a sign that their mission was going to go downhill and roll into a giant pile of shit, but no, did he ever listen to that voice whispering in his head?  John Sheppard grunted in pain as a meaty fist dug into his already broken lower ribs one more time and blearily tried to keep his eyes open.  He saw vague shapes of people surrounding him, but he knew who they were ever since his team’s capture on M3R-154.

Every fiber of his being was in pain and while some others were more acute, it still hurt each time pressure was put on.  His hands and arms were already numb with both pain and loss of circulation, being held up behind him in a spread-eagle style.  His feet, thankfully, were still firmly on the ground and thus, he didn’t have to wrench his shoulders anymore than they were already.

One, he knew was already dislocated and his efforts in popping that joint back into its socket was rewarded by him passing out as soon as he felt it pop back in.  He had only awakened to the rough shaking of guards hauling him up from his cell and to this torture chamber.

Well, at least the one bright spot in all of this was that there was no Wraith to feed on him this time around.

A damp trickle of sour tasting water touched his lips and startled him from his dazed thoughts as he jerked involuntarily against his chains.  He gritted his teeth and suppressed the hiss of pain that coursed throughout his whole body as it reacted to his jerk.  Glancing through one good eye, albeit a bit blurry at times he saw the grinning face of his captor and the tiniest tremor of fear shot through him.

He recognized the man in front of him.

The face that he had sworn to kill the next time they met…Acastus Kolya.

“Colonel Sheppard,” Kolya smirked at him and John Sheppard knew that he was in deep trouble.  He knew that it had been hours since he had awakened to the lovely face of a giant cat who told him that he had healed him, to sitting back in a dark cell to being brought back here again.  Oddly, there were no questions asked of him during his initial torture session by the Klisan’thus, but now…with Kolya here…

“Kolya…” John mustered a crooked smile as best as he could, “I see you’re working with these slimeballs…”

There was a low growl of anger before another meaty fist dug into his stomach, making him hiss slightly in pain.

“The Klisan’thus are a bit, how do you say, testy, when it comes to allies.  I only asked them to provide me with the resources needed so I can remove Laden Radim,” Kolya gave him a nasty smile; “it’s not personal.”

“Yeah,” John snorted, “sure it’s not personal.”

“You and your men are just the bargaining tools to prevent your Dr. Weir from sending men to aide the Genii,” the older man shrugged before poking him painfully on his bruised shoulder, the same shoulder that had been wrenched out of its socket and placed back in.  John winced, suppressing the urge to hiss in pain at the slightest touch to it.  In the quiet moments of talking with Kolya, he felt as if every fiber of nerves within his body was hyper-sensitive to pain.  Any movement or any motion he made, shot currents of agony throughout his body.

“What did you promise them?  Your men?  Just a handful of what, two dozen, going up against a whole fucking planet?” he usually didn’t swear, but John felt as if he was at the end of his line.

“No, no,” Kolya shook his head, “you misunderstand me, Colonel.  They will help me,” he gestured to the shadowy figures beyond the torture chamber, glowing eyes watching him hang from his bonds.

“What the hell are you gonna do then?  You’ve got a measly planet, you got your power,” John asked sarcastically, “I’m sure you’ve figured out that we’re not exactly supportive allies when it comes to the Genii.”

“We will storm Atlantis and your friends like Dr. McKay, will provide me with the codes,” Kolya gave him one last smile full of teeth before his fist connected with the side of his head, sending John into the black oblivion of unconsciousness.

                                    *                      *                      *

 


	5. Discoveries

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

**Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.

**Notes:** This chapter was written in chunks of between the last time I posted Chapter 4, which was back in Sept. of 2007 and October of 2009.  Between then, I had all but given up on the _Atlantis_ fandom when I absolutely disliked the direction they took with the show (killing Dr. Beckett was a major mark against it and I did not care that he had a clone of sorts waiting in the wings.  Getting rid of Dr. Weir was another one…and who thought that bringing in Sam Carter was such a great idea?  I love her in _SG-1_ , I hate her in _Atlantis_ ).

My interest in this story only revived last week when I saw the premiere of _Stargate Universe_.  I wanted to compare intro sequences in the two spin-offs and decided I liked _Atlantis_ a lot more in terms of intros so far which suckered me into doing a marathon.  I had this chapter long planned out before I stopped writing for two years, so all I had to do was add a couple of more pages and a few scenes before posting it for all of you.  Enjoy.  Hopefully I can finish this story without getting pissed at what the writers did to _Stargate Atlantis_ starting with the latter half of Season 3, 4, and 5.

 

**Story:**

_Chapter 5 – Discoveries_

 

Getting a connection with the _Daedalus_ took a little longer than usual due to the distance the ship was from Atlantis, but as soon as a secure connection was established, Elizabeth saw the grim worried line face of Colonel Caldwell appear.

“I hope you have good news Doctor,” Caldwell looked calm, though his body language told her otherwise.

She shook her head sadly, “I’m afraid not, Colonel.  It seems that Colonel Sheppard’s team’s failed.  We’ve received word from the aliens calling themselves _Klisan’thus_ that they have been captured.”

“ _Klisan’thus_?” Caldwell asked, “Well, at least now we have a name to put to their faces.”

“I was wondering if Hermiod was available…he may know something of these _Klisan’thus_ ,” Elizabeth said.

Caldwell nodded before looking to the side and suddenly the communication screen split into two, Hermiod in one half, Caldwell in the other.  “What can I do for you Dr. Weir?” the Asgard sounded annoyed, but then again, Elizabeth knew from Caldwell himself that the Asgard was always annoyed.

“I was wondering if your people know anything about a race called the _Klisan’thus_ ,” she asked.

Normally reading Asgard expressions was like reading a blank slate, but Elizabeth swore she saw the placid expression Hermiod usually had suddenly freeze and his skin tone grew a few shades lighter grey.  “Klisan’thus…”

“Yes,” she watched the Asgard carefully and it seemed Caldwell did too.  She noticed that the whole bridge of the _Daedalus_ and the whole control room in Atlantis had too frozen, all hanging onto the words of the Asgard.  It seemed that everyone picked up on the fact that the Asgard knew something about their currently adversary.

There was a murmur of sounds from Hermiod before he looked up and gave a very human-like sigh.   “We know of the Klisan’thus…and from what Thor has told the Asgard High Council, the Tau’ri should know of the Klisan’thus too, though you have never met.”

“Pardon?” she asked, confused.

“Quite simply,” Hermiod moved one of the control crystals up his station, “they are the Furlings.”

                                    *                      *                      *

Akiesios walked the halls with a purpose, making his way towards Taethos’ inner sanctum underground in their bunker above the makeshift village that they had used as a cover for this whole operation.  The real village had been culled by the Wraith months ago and burnt to the ground.  He didn’t know the whole story behind the Genii’s involvement in this whole plan, but he did hear that the group’s leader, a man named Acastus Kolya had told them that his own home planet had been ruthlessly taken over by a dictator who claimed to be benevolent, but instead was bloodthirsty and power-hungry.  Kolya also told them that he had allies; foreign humans who had come bearing projectile weapons greater than that of his own men and were hunting him.

Taethos had agreed to help Kolya and his men, but somehow, Akiesios felt that there had to be more to the plan than their leader was letting on.  He needed to know, but Taethos was reluctant to tell him.

But with the arrival of these humans…they didn’t seem to conquerors that Kolya had made them out to be.  In fact, while a bit hostile and wary, which was natural, they seemed almost friendly.  However, Taethos and the others told him that they had activated the Wraith’gul…and were intent on using it to destroy everyone.  Now, he wasn’t too sure if that was true.

These humans knew of the Ancients and the Goa’uld...did they know of the Asurans and other threats that weren’t of this galaxy?  And how did Colonel Sheppard and his team get onto this planet?  They had the Chapp’ai well guarded to prevent anyone from fighting their way in and there had been no reported casualties by the Chapp’ai when Sheppard and his men fought their way in.

He halted in front of the two perpetual guards that always protected the entrance to Taethos’ inner sanctum.  “Let me pass,” he gave each of them an even look before they stepped back, letting him through.

He continued and palmed open the door to the sanctum.  Walking in he steeled himself from frowning in displeasure as he saw his leader sitting in plush comforts, two of the women of their group sitting next to him.  One had taken to grooming the furs on his hind feet; the other was whispering something in his ear to which Taethos chuckled softly.

“Sir,” Akiesios stood at attention, staring straight ahead at the darkly hued red walls of the sanctum.

“Ah, Akiesios…” Taethos waved his salute away before leaning forward, gesturing to the two women to stopped whatever they were doing.  The women scooted over from the plush before attending to their own furs, all the while seemingly leering at Akiesios.  He steadfastly ignored them and instead, focused on Taethos.  “You wanted something?”

“What are the Genii after?  These humans that we have captured are no ordinary humans.  It is true they are far more advanced than the Genii, but they do not seem to be hunting down Commander Kolya and his men,” Akiesios said bluntly.

“I thought you would have figured it out by now,” Taethos stared at him with even eyes, “these are the interlopers that have activated the Wraith’gul.  Do you wish for them to defile our most sacred object with such petty hands?  They killed at least ten of our own brethren!”

“I mean no disrespect,” Akiesios bowed his head slightly in apology, “but I seem to think there is more to these humans than we have thought possible.  For one thing, how did they get through the Chapp’ai without any detection?  Our own men haven’t been injured and they claim that no one came through the Chapp’ai.  Yet Colonel Sheppard and his team were able to return and kill our brethren.”

“Are you questioning my methods?  I have already told you time and time again…all will be revealed in due time,” Taethos rose up from his seat, stepping forward so that he towered over Akiesios by at least a good head.  However, Akiesios did not let the height difference intimidate him and instead, stared at their leader, his eyes narrowed.

“I feel as if we are dealing with a potential enemy that could have grave consequences for us.  If it is true that these humans have disposed of Commander Kolya and installed their own puppet leader, then should we not tread carefully?  They have the ability to control the strongest of humans in this galaxy, the Genii, and yet we hold them prisoner and taunt their leader.”

“I am not taunting Dr. Weir,” Taethos sneered at him before stepping back and started to circle around him, “I am merely stating to her that what she has done is in serious violation of our principles.”

“It’s the Wraith’gul!  It only can be activated by the Alin’thus!  What you are-“ Akiesios stopped mid-word as he realized what had happened and as all the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together.

He had heard of some of the humans within the galaxy that possessed the genetic material of the Alin’thus, thus enabling some of them to protect themselves from the Wraith…but only the strongest of those…the ones closest to being Alin’thus themselves were able to activate such a device.  He had seen Dr. McKay and his team of scientists, at least four of them, go down into the bowels of the Wraith’gul…could a majority of the scientists possess the genetic material of the Alin’thus?

“That is why Commander Kolya needed our help.  These band of humans are dangerous, don’t you see?  They don’t know what they are getting into,” Taethos saw the knowing expression on his face and smiled slightly.

“But torturing them?!” Akiesios could understand Taethos’ need to curb the humans’ child-like enthusiasm; even he had that moral obligation to make sure that the second-born children of the Alin’thus not come to any harm, especially in this galaxy…the galaxy of mistakes.

“You did not object in the beginning,” Taethos replied icily.

“That was before I knew some of them had the genetic material of our long-forgotten allies!  We promised them Taethos!  Or have you forgotten?!”

“It seems,” Taethos stopped his circling and instead, stared at him with narrowed eyes, “that you too have forgotten…or is your connection to the Arch-Council still hindering you from doing what is necessary.”

Akiesios’ breath hitched slightly before he shook his head, “No.  I have sworn my loyalty to you…and you have seen my actions.  I just have reservations.”

“For now…”

“For now, but they will fade.  It is the shock of finding this information out that has brought out such reservations,” Akiesios agreed.

“See to it you don’t have anymore reservations.  We are close to our goal,” Taethos growled as he settled back into his plush comforts.

“Sir?”

“We will storm the Genii’s home planet.  Our hostages ensure us that Dr. Weir will not make a move against us.”

“Understood, sir.  I take my leave,” Akiesios sensed that the conversation was over and saluted before turning around and leaving the sanctum, ignoring the purrs of admiration from the two females.  He stalked past the guards and weaved his way around the corridors.

He had almost compromised himself back there and he knew that Taethos would not let him slip once more.  There would be others sent to track his whereabouts, which made his job harder.  He wanted to check one more thing before making his move and so headed towards the torture chambers where he knew they kept Colonel Sheppard.

There were no guards outside the door to the chamber, but there were most certainly guards and few of the Genii all surrounding the middle of the chamber, where Akiesios saw the battered looking Sheppard hanging from chains bound to his wrist.  He knew that it had been hours since they took Sheppard from the medical room to here, but surely he hadn’t been hanging from the chains for that long?

A cursory look at Sheppard made Akiesios frown.  The Colonel was obviously in much pain and one of his shoulders looked swollen…probably a popped bone which was improperly popped back in.  His shallow and wheezing breaths could be heard throughout the room and bruises along with blood covered parts of his face.  What manner was this that the Genii torture a man so severely?

And then he noticed that some of the other Klisan’thus were also there…and a sick swooping feeling filled him.  Even his own people had joined in…

“What did you promise them?  Your men?  Just a handful of what, two dozen, going up against a whole fucking planet?” Akiesios finally noticed that the Colonel was talking with the leader of the Genii, a pock-marked, but handsome man that he identified immediately as Acastus Kolya.

“No, no,” Kolya shook his head, “you misunderstand me, Colonel.  They will help me.”

“What the hell are you gonna do then?  You’ve got a measly planet, you got your power.  I’m sure you’ve figured out that we’re not exactly supportive allies when it comes to the Genii.”

“We will storm Atlantis and your friends like Dr. McKay, will provide me with the codes.”

The word Atlantis struck him like a blow just as Kolya also round-housed the Colonel in the head, his body going limp.  Atlantis!  The city which they had thought had been destroyed by the Wraith almost a year and half ago!  It had been rumored that someone had powered up the long-forgotten city and brought it from its deep slumber in Lantea’s ocean.  They had tried to confirm it, but with a majority of their resources dedicated to fighting the Wraith and Asurans and watching their borders, there hadn’t been time.

This meant that Atlantis hadn’t been destroyed as reports had said…and it survived.  It also meant that these humans, these explorers…they were from Atlantis.  They were the ones who had probably powered up the city and made it their base.  It would make sense, especially if a few of them had the Alin’thus’ genetic material.

But codes?  He didn’t know what it really meant, but had a sneaky feeling that it probably had something to do with Atlantis’ shield on its Chapp’ai.

“Commander,” a plan was rapidly forming in Akiesios’ head as he stepped forward, pushing his way through the others, “are you finished with this session?”

“Ah…you are?” Kolya stared at him, and he noticed that his men had not-quite pointed their weapons at him.

“The medical doctor in this base, Commander.  General Taethos requests that the prisoner be kept healthy at least.  From my assessment, he will need treatment before another session can continue,” Akiesios said as evenly as possible.

“I see,” Kolya stepped back before gesturing with a jerk of his head for two of his men to unstrap the unconscious Colonel from his bonds.  They did so without a word and let the man drop to the ground.  A soft and involuntary groan escaped from the Colonel’s lips and Akiesios’ eyes narrowed just slightly.

“Thank you,” he walked over and picked up the Colonel before slinging him half over his shoulder much like he would do to a rucksack.  The human felt too light for his liking as he headed away from the chamber, ignoring the inquisitive looks from the other Klisan’thus.  He made his way through the winding corridors before finally reaching the medical ward.  Entering it, he saw a few Klisan’thus milling about.  “Leave me,” he ordered to them and they hurried out without a word, some bowing to him before the door hissed close behind him.

Making sure that no one was left, Akiesios finally gently lowered the Colonel from his shoulder and shook his head slightly as he stared at the masses of bruises and wounds.  He needed the Colonel healthy if he was going to execute his plan and walked over to a seemingly blank wall that was surrounded by beds and monitors.  He moved a few of the beds away from the wall before hitting a part of the wall which suddenly opened up to reveal a secret compartment.

Reaching his hand inside the compartment, Akiesios pressed a series of buttons he could feel deep into the wall before the rest of the wall hissed and another hidden compartment slowly opened up, this time much larger…

He stepped back as he watched the wall open outwards, a large golden-encrusted encasement attached to the dummy wall moving out of its hidden compartment.  It looked like a coffin of sorts, but much more elaborately decorated.  The encasement opened up with a quiet hiss and inside, the soft glow of its healing lights pulsed softly.  Satisfied that the coffin-like thing was working properly, Akiesios turned back and picked up Colonel Sheppard gently before placing him inside the coffin-like thing.

The encasement immediately sensed an occupant inside it and started to close, all the while retreating back into the wall.  Finally, the wall sealed shut along with the hidden compartment used to bring out the coffin-like thing and Akiesios quickly placed the beds back in place.

No one knew such a thing existed in the medical ward, not even Taethos.  It was for his own emergency use if his original plan had failed…  It would keep Sheppard hidden for a while, but he also knew it would endanger his own life as many had seen him take the Colonel away from the torture chamber.  At this moment he didn’t care.  All he knew was that if things went as Taethos had planned, then all would go to hell.

Seeing that his current task was done, Akiesios headed out of the medical ward and towards the surface of the planet.  If the prisoners were from Atlantis and some had the genetic material of the Alin’thus, then there was a good chance he knew how they had arrived…

                                    *                      *                      *

Elizabeth rubbed her eyes tiredly as she stared at the faces of the command staff of Stargate Command and the members of SG-1, all crowded around the small video feed they had going.  In the forefront was Dr. Daniel Jackson who was scribbling furiously on a notepad, hurriedly trying to translate the Ancient text that she had sent over in a previous data burst transmission about an hour ago.

Even with Zelenka and his team trying to translate the text they found on the Wraith’gul and with Dr. Jackson’s help, it was hard work.  Behind Dr. Jackson was General O’Neill, still trying to rack his brains for any knowledge of the Furlings he may have acquired during the two times he had his head stuck in the Ancient repository and standing next to him were Vala and Colonel Samantha Carter, both helping Dr. Jackson with the translation.  Farther behind them was Teal’c and Colonel Mitchell, both looking a bit out of place, but nonetheless, flipping through a few pages of the translated text, trying to piece together just what the Wraith’gul really meant.

Ever since Hermiod’s announcement that the Klisan’thus really were the Furlings, she had immediately contacted Stargate Command for instructions and for knowledge.  The Furlings were the last of the Four Great Alliance members that they had never encountered and only now…

What had they done to inadvertently anger the Furlings?  Surely it just wasn’t curiously poking around the Wraith’gul…  The Nox, the Asgard, and even the Ancients were friendly enough by their curiosity, although they took it to like a parent admonishing a child, but the Furlings…

They had captured members of her expedition, and even killed a few of them.  What had they done?

“Dr. Weir, we’re sending you some more information from what Dr. Jackson and his team were able to translate so far,” General Landry’s face appeared on the screen and Elizabeth looked to Chuck, the Canadian technician who had been Peter Grodin’s replacement for the last two years, who nodded as he confirmed the receipt of the transmission.

“We’ve received it,” she replied, pursing her lips.

“Any word from Colonel Caldwell about the situation down there?” Landry’s expression softened slightly.

Elizabeth shook her head, “I’m sorry…”

“We’ll contact you in an hour with the next batch of translations,” Landry knew that there wasn’t more to be said and Elizabeth nodded before the wormhole shut down, leaving only the sounds of monitors and people walking around to fill the silence within the control room.

“This is…not good,” Radek murmured to himself, sitting in one of the control stations, staring at the databurst translation that had come through.

Elizabeth walked over to where Radek sat and peered over his shoulder.  “What is it?”

“We know that this is a weapon, right?  Designed to kill the Lanteans or anything that the Wraith could potentially feed on.  Well, according to the recent batch of translations, this is like the Dakara Superweapon,” Radek nervously pushed up his glasses on his nose and she felt her breath hitch slightly.

“Exactly like it?” she slowly asked.

“Sort of,” the Czech scientist grimaced before tapping a few keys on his laptop, bringing up a schematic of the whole Pegasus Galaxy.  “Here’s the planet, M3R-154,” he pointed to the miniscule planet which was deep within the arms of the galaxy, “if the weapon was to be activated, apparently it would wipe out all life in this quadrant of the galaxy.”

“But that doesn’t include us,” she pointed out.

“Yes, I know,” he replied, “but according to the newest translations from what Dr. Jackson and his team along with mine are able to piece together, it looks like the Stargate of M3R-154 is designed to activate all the Stargates within the Pegasus Galaxy…”

“So the weapon’s effects spread through the Stargates…but couldn’t that reach Earth too?”

Radek blinked, “I hadn’t thought about that.”

Elizabeth knew that it was probably a minute chance, but since Atlantis was the only connection to Earth, there would be the chance that the weapon’s power would spread to Earth.  She knew that Earth’s Stargate didn’t have the capacity of activating multiple gates at once, and Ba’al simultaneous dialing program was under tight lock and key.  But that still meant that if the weapon’s power did reach Earth, all of its inhabitants would be completely wiped out.

“All right,” she pursed her lips briefly before turning to one of the techs sitting at the communications console, “send what we’ve just received to the _Daedalus_ and see if Hermiod could work out something.”

She turned to David, “No contact from the Furlings since their last transmission?”

“No ma’am,” David replied.

“Dial the planet.  I think its time we told Taethos what we know,” Elizabeth steeled herself for the incoming storm that she knew had arrived.

                                    *                      *                      *

Teyla was worried; even though they were prisoners of these cat-like creatures, no one had been by since the one called Akiesios left them and that was hours ago.  She didn’t know how many days had passed since they had been prisoners of these aliens, but she knew that it had been a few since they were running low on water and on the food found in their vests.

Ronon had almost completely healed, rapidly recovering due to the white paste-like stuff Akiesios had ordered her to put on the others.  The others had no luck trying to put together a workable device to aid their escape and only managed to produce an unusual looking object that Major Lorne had tested on the lock, but to no avail.  Ronon had taken to pacing up and down their cell, occasionally rattling the bars for any signs of weakness, but Teyla didn’t hold out much hope in finding anything.  The Satedan had told them that Colonel Sheppard had arrived with him and she had found herself worrying for any news of him.  Akiesios had dodged her initial question, but she hoped that John was still alive.

However, the hope died a little bit inside of her as soon as they heard footsteps echo along the corridor, footsteps that sounded too heavy to be the cat-like creatures’ feet.  As they all looked up to see who their new visitors were, Teyla felt a slight pit of dread form in her stomach.

“Kolya…” Rodney whispered, standing up slowly before Lorne cut in front of him, pushing the scientist back, shielding him with his body.

Teyla instinctively also did the same, half stepping forward towards Lorne.  They all knew how much Kolya hated Rodney, probably almost as much as he hated John.

“Dr. McKay,” Kolya smiled congenially at them, “Teyla…and Ronon, good to see you.  And you too Major Lorne…it’s been a while hasn’t it?”

“Yeah… a while,” Lorne gave a thin-lipped smile.

“Shouldn’t you be dead by now?” Ronon leaned against the bars, a predatory-amused smile on his face.  Teyla recognized the look instantly.

“Ronon…don’t,” she warned him.  It wouldn’t do them any good if he did anything rash at the moment, not with so many guns pointed at them by Kolya’s men.

Ronon stepped back from the bars, the amused smile still on his face, spread his hands out to indicate that he wasn’t going to do anything.  “Just asking,” he commented softly.

Kolya snorted softly before gesturing to one of his men to open their cell door.  “Now, if you’ll all just stand there quietly.  The Klisan’thus requires one of you to be there when we talk to Dr. Weir.  Any volunteers?  No?  Then I choose…her…” Kolya pointed at Lieutenant Kaili Wescott who stood stock straight, fear in her eyes.

“Take me instead; I’m the senior ranking officer.  If you want to convince Dr. Weir of anything I’m the one to take,” Lorne immediately stepped forward, but froze as one of the Genii pointed his weapon directly at him.

“No, actually Colonel Sheppard is, but I doubt it he’s in the mood to be talking at the moment…I doubt that he’s in the mood to be moving at all,” Kolya gave them a nasty smile which sent shivers down Teyla’s spine.

“Sheppard here?  He’s alive?” Rodney asked, hopeful.

“In the manner of speaking…” one of the Genii snickered, “we broke a few of his bones…gave him a pretty good beating too.”

Kolya moved his hand to stop him from talking but the damage had already been done.  Anger filled the room as each member of the Atlantis expedition that was in the cell glared at the Genii.  Teyla knew that everyone within the cell respected Sheppard and gave him a lot more credit than he realized.  He had saved the lives of each one of the members before, whether it was most recently or a long time ago, no one wanted to hear what the Genii soldier had just said.

“Bastards,” Ronon growled out as the soldier finished opening the door and two of the armed men stepped in, pointing their weapons at them before another two walked forward and pulled the protesting Lieutenant Wescott out of the cell.  The two soldiers followed out before the door was locked once more and Kolya tipped his hat at them.

“Thank you,” he gave them a bland smile before walking away, leaving them in silence.

Lorne immediately spun around and kicked the wall angrily, curses falling from his lips.  No one made a move to stop him and Teyla only watched sadly as the Major expressed what they all were feeling.

                                    *                      *                      *

Elizabeth held her head high as she stared at Taethos who was communicating using both a video feed and audio feed that was similar to their MALP telemetry.  She could see behind him the wooded area of the planet and a group of Klisan’thus surrounding their leader.  There was a subtle movement in the woods before Taethos turned slightly to see who had arrived and her breath caught in her throat as she saw who was dragging Lieutenant Wescott along.

A soft murmur of select swears poured from Radek’s mouth and while she barely understood any of them, she found herself agreeing with his words.  With Acastus Kolya’s presence among the Furlings, it would make sense for the Furlings to listen to the words of the man that had tried to capture Atlantis.

“Dr. Weir,” Taethos turned back to face her, “due to the highly sensitive nature of our mission, we would like to request that you do not interfere, or else the lives of your men and women like this Lieutenant, will be forfeit.”

“We would like to request that any attempts to contact any of your allies no matter how great or small will result in terrible consequences,” Kolya smiled nastily before Elizabeth realized what the man was getting at.  Kolya was going to try to storm the Genii homeworld and take it over!

“But,” the ex-military commander of the Genii clasped his hands behind his back, “as a gesture of good faith, we will return Lieutenant Wescott to you, alive and unharmed.  I suggest you open your gate or else she may not have the chance of surviving the trip.”

Elizabeth nodded to Chuck the technician.  He immediately lowered the shield on the Atlantis gate and she saw a slight movement as one of the Klisan’thus took Lieutenant Wescott out of the frame of the MALP and seconds later the frightened Lieutenant stumbled through the gate, bewildered and shaking all over.  Immediately Chuck raised the shield once more and Beckett was already attending to the shell-shocked soldier, leading her off the embarkation platform and towards a stretcher.

“She arrived safely, thank you,” the words of thanks felt forced from her lips before she pursed them and looked at both Kolya and Taethos.  Here was the real test, “Taethos, I do not know if your kind remembers the Great Alliance of the Four Races, but we were told that the Klisan'thus also are known as the Furlings.”

There was a quiet silence save for the hum of machinery as everyone's gazes were riveted to the Furling leader who had an unreadable expression on his face.  However, she did notice that Kolya's expression was narrowed and shrewd, taking in this new information.  She briefly wondered if the Pegasus galaxy had heard of the Furlings.  Judging from what Ronon had told her before he had left for the attempted rescue mission, there were legends of cat-like people scattered throughout the galaxy, but nothing concrete.  Perhaps they had adopted the villagers as part of their community, both humans and cat-like creatures calling themselves Klisan’thus.

“How very interesting you refer to my kind in the Tau'ri native tongue,” Taethos replied quietly and Elizabeth felt a jolt of surprise fill her.  Taethos said Tau'ri...no one in the Pegasus galaxy had ever referred them as Tau'ri.  It was a Milky Way galaxy expression confined to only the Goa'uld and other species the SGC had stumbled upon.  Even the Ancients in the Milky Way on more than one occasion had referred to the people of Earth as the Tau'ri.  But here...they were the children of the Ancestors, the gate builders and according to the Asurans, the second-children.

“We have our resources,” she decided to throw a few tidbits of information his way, “we learned of the Great Alliance between the Ancestors who built the Stargates, the Ancients as we call them, the Furlings, the Nox, and the Asgard.”

She knew her words had to be confusing Kolya, but she hoped that perhaps by telling him that there were bigger problems than a petty power struggle for leadership on just a planet that perhaps he would take it as a sign of good faith and release everyone that they had captured.  But for Taethos, she could not gauge his reaction.  However, she thought she had seen a glint of something in his eyes.  Kolya and his men already knew that Atlantis had survived the so-called “self destruct,” but she did not want to outright tell him that they were from another galaxy and that they were essentially squatting in Atlantis.

“Alin'thus, Teythan'thus, and Serin'thus,” Taethos replied, “you have learned much for such primitive people.”

“We also know of the Goa'uld and we've defeated them,” she decided on that gamble and was rewarded with a slightly frozen smile on Taethos' face.

“The parasites could never have been defeated, not in a thousand years, not by anyone,” the leader of the Furlings hissed angrily and Elizabeth knew there was a definite connection between the Furlings and the Goa'uld.  She didn't know what it was, but she knew that the answers would explain perhaps why her men were killed by wounds consistent of staff blasts.  However, why the Furlings had somehow left the Milky Way and come to the Pegasus Galaxy puzzled her.  And why they were so angry at them for touching the device when the villagers themselves had reassured them that it was very old and unused for such a long time.

She knew that there was a vital piece of information she was missing.  Something about all of this that did not quite make sense.  For starters, why would the Furlings, such an old and powerful race ally themselves with someone like Kolya only to take over a planet?  She thought that the Furlings would have greater respect and understanding of the younger races and would be shepherds, not enforcers, like the Ancients, Nox, and Asgard were.  Apparently she was wrong and the last fourth missing race of the Great Alliance was not the benevolent guides they had imagined them for such a long time.

“We had help from the Ancients,” which was technically true according to the most recent report she had read from Stargate Command before the Ori made their presence known.  Dr. Daniel Jackson had written an account of what had happened to him after he had been abducted by the Replicators and had said that Oma Desala had cast off the restraints and rules she had been shackled with by the other Ancients and had engaged Anubis in an eternal battle.  The only real Goa'uld threat left the last she had heard was Ba'al and his clones, but the Tok'ra apparently said that they were starting to help the shattered empires of the Goa'uld and rebuild into a more peaceful and less aggressive and expansionist race of beings.

“It puzzles me,” Taethos narrowed his eyes slightly, “that the Alin'thus would be so willing to help.”

“That is why we come in peace,” Elizabeth replied carefully, knowing her next words were crucial, “we are a race of explorers.  The villagers did not know that allowing us to examine the device would anger your people so much.”

“Your ignorance is what will be the end of you,” Taethos snapped back, baring his feline-teeth slightly, “I have learned much of your group from Commander Kolya here and it is not all pleasant.”

“Commander Kolya's view is biased-”

“The aiding and sedition of a planetary overthrow of several governments?  The non-disclosure of the Chapp'ai to several civilian governments on planets that wished the secret to be kept?  The destruction of property and livelihood?  And worst of all, according to the Commander here, we have your expedition and people to thank for the premature reawakening of the Wraith, which has now resulted in millions of dead amongst this galaxy's worlds so far.”

Elizabeth kept silent, her lips in a thin line of anger.  How many times had she tried to explain to other worlds that accused or discovered that they were the ones who had inadvertently woken the Wraith?  How many times had she tried to explain herself to the IOA, to Stargate Command that they needed to be on the lookout in case the Wraith appeared in the Milky Way?

However, to hear criticism from one of the Four Alliance races, it was like a slap in the face.  Even the Asgard or the Ancients that they had met had never criticized them, or at least she had not heard anything from Hermiod.  All of them had accepted it with the graciousness and assumption that it was after all, human nature to be curious.  And both races had learned that curiosity sometimes produced the most unfortunate consequence.  The only thing left to do was to try to mitigate and clean up the mess that they had unleashed.

She had a feeling that the Furlings held a different set of values, much like the Nox's belief of non interference.

Taethos's teeth had been bared and his rough voice rising with anger before he finally took a deep breath, “Your men will be returned to you, unharmed, at the conclusion of our operation.  Perhaps you would take this time to reflect on the error of your ways and the horror you have unleashed.  Taethos out.”

The connection broke and a few seconds later the wormhole disconnected, leaving Elizabeth fuming and angry.  She felt like she had run the gauntlet through a series of negotiations and had come out on the sour end of a deal.  However, she definitely knew that there was something missing in all of this, something that she knew Taethos was hiding about the Furlings and its relation to the weapon.  Something about the Furlings and the past history of the Four Alliances and _Goa'uld_.

It also did not help matters that the person she had thought was a simple head of a village seemed much more to the Furlings than he was letting on.  Taethos was hiding something about himself and about the cat-like soldiers surrounding him.

“Ma'am,” one of the technicians, Erin suddenly spoke up and she turned slightly, “we have an incoming video transmission from the _Daedalus_.”

“Video?” as far as Elizabeth knew, the _Daedalus_ was still holding its position above the planet and thus video transmissions weren't even capable of transmitting from that far out.

“Err, yes ma'am,” the technician looked slightly confused, but handed her the headset and she took it and walked over to the screen they had set up as a video relay.

Touching the headset she spoke into it, “This is Weir.”

The screen fizzled for a second before a slightly warped, but clear image appeared and she nearly gasped at seeing another Furling's face, behind her the bridge of the _Daedalus_.

“Hello, Dr. Weir,” the Furling spoke, his growling voice much more cultured than Taethos', “I am called Akiesios and I bring you proposal.”

                                    *                      *                      *


	6. Opposition

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

**Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.

**Notes:** This is a Akiesios-heavy chapter and will feature a lot of the questions you, the readers, may have had for a while, being answered.  However, if you notice the above “category” this story falls in…it looks like the end may be in sight, but just not quite yet…  I also have the whole Furling society planned out already before writing this fanfic.  It’s quite…complex.  I’ve also stuck with the fan name of “Marcus” for Lorne instead of the supposed “Eric” Lorne.  Until I get proof otherwise, I’m sticking with Marcus for now.

Also, as of this chapter, I have never seen most of Season 4 and any of Season 5 due to my anger at what had happened to a couple of characters by the end of Season 3.  Please see my livejournal for my little rant if you want.  This is subjected to change…

 

**Story:**

_Chapter 6 – Opposition_

 

Akiesios left the underground compound with a purpose, his loping strides purposeful and his grip sure on his _za'kutus_.  His diminutive height allowed him to blend better with the woods of the planet of Acheron.  He was shorter than most of his species, the reason being most obvious when one put into consideration his lineage, but right now, it helped him blend in and avoid detection as he made his way towards where he knew the nearest clearing beyond the village was.

He occasionally stopped, crouching in the bushes as the patrols Taethos had set up walked around.  He knew he could walk uncontested by the guards, but he also did not want anyone asking him unnecessary questions or even following him for what he was going to do.  He had little allies in this den of Hades, but he would not risk them just yet.  Not until he was sure about a few things and until he could make contact.

Finally, he reached the clearing after forty-five minutes of clearing through the brush and woods.  There were no patrols this far out as far as he knew, but he wouldn't take the chance and crept out slowly, his weapon held ready to fire.  He slowly stepped towards the middle of the clearing, his senses on alert.  Taking deep breaths, he tried to smell where he thought it was, catching little faint odors of a long-forgotten metallic tang.

He held the _za’kutus_ out in front of him and after a few minutes of cautious searching, was rewarded when his weapon encountered something seemingly invisible in the middle of the clearing.  He immediately pressed upon where his _za’kutus_ was resisting and felt the cool metal of the transport he knew Sheppard and his men had arrived in.  He couldn’t be too sure of his findings, but it did partially confirm to him that these people had found the lost city of the Alin’thus and perhaps had the genetic code necessary to operate its machinery.

He felt his way along the metallic feel of the ship before finding what felt like the control panel and touched a button.  A musical chime of sorts sounded and Akiesios grinned as the door to the _alin’raer_ opened up with barely a sound.  He looked quickly around and his senses did not pick up anyone nearby, but he couldn’t be too sure and quickly slipped in his claws tapping against its metallic floors as he raced to the cockpit and looked at the numerous symbols and buttons on its control panel.

Due to his upbringing, he had learned the languages and symbols of the others of the Great Alliance, but having not used it such a long, long time, he wracked his brain for the correct symbol to retract the landing platform of the small ship.  After a few minutes, he finally noticed that there was a button that had a symbol indicating the ramp and frowned.  It wasn’t written in the Alin’thus’ language, but rather had a slightly crude drawing…

Akiesios pressed the button and was pleasantly rewarded with the landing platform closing quietly behind him.  He glanced back and then looked back down at the crudely drawn symbol.  He had not said it, but apparently the humans Taethos had captured were far more resourceful than anyone gave them credit for.  A sigh escaped between his teeth and he brushed his sensory whiskers before sitting down in the pilot’s chair, trying to review what he had learned all those thousands of years ago about the Alin’thus and their ships.

He stared at the symbols for a few minutes before shaking his head and wished he had a manual of sorts to figure out what was what.  He was not a pilot, but he knew what the basic controls looked like.  However…he vaguely recognized a particular symbol and pressed it, hoping that it wasn’t going to fire a weapon or something.  Instead, a bluish holographic screen popped up on his forward display and he blinked as he sat back, seeing a map of the area he was in before the map zoomed out to the whole planet.

Akiesios murmured a quiet word of surprise, before something caught his eye.  Just barely within the orbit of the planet was a blinking dot.  He touched the hologram lightly and it zoomed in on the dot before the distinct pop and a small hiss of static filled the cockpit.

He looked around wondering what it was until a faint tinned voice filled the cockpit.  “-repeat this is Colonel Steven Caldwell of the Daedalus, Colonel Sheppard do you read?”

“Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard is currently...indisposed,” he replied out loud, “I am called Akiesios of the Klisan'thus.”

Silence greeted him and he briefly wondered if the connection had been cut before another crackle and the voice of Colonel Caldwell returned.  “I presume Taethos is with you?”

“He is not,” Akiesios replied, “I have found the _alin'raer_ of my own accord.  Your men and women have provided me with intriguing information-”

“If they've been harmed-”

“They have not.  I have attended to them and at the moment they are resting in their cells,” the corner of his lips and whiskers twitched in morbid amusement.  Caldwell was very protective of his men and women and he did not blame the military man.  He suspected that he was their leader, but then again, who was Taethos to talk to this Dr. Weir, who held the same rank as Dr. McKay and a few of the other seemingly non-military personnel of the humans that had arrived on Acheron.

Could a civilian be in charge of these humans and supersede this military man's orders?  Another thing for certain was that this blinking red dot above the planet was most definitely a ship of sorts.  He had a feeling that it wasn't like the _alin'raer_ he was sitting in, which meant that these humans with similar projectile weaponry to the Genii were far more advanced than any other species he knew of that existed within this galaxy save for the Asurans.

They also carried the genetic makeup of the Alin'thus, otherwise how would they be able to pilot the _alin'raer_ anywhere?  His suspicion about these group of humans had started a pit of worry and of apprehension in his stomach.  Taethos was making a big mistake, he knew that for sure, by holding Major Lorne and his men, by torturing Colonel Sheppard.  But he could not for the life of him figure out why Taethos would keep all of them...unless...

The pit of worry exploded into dread in his stomach as he realized why Taethos insisted on keeping the humans and why he was insistent on negotiating with Dr. Weir.

“Colonel Caldwell, I need to talk to the Dr. Weir that Taethos has been negotiating with,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm, but he knew he had let some of his urgency color his words.

“Would it be easier to go with your leader to talk to her?” he heard the ironic anger in Caldwell's tone and he growled in frustration.  The man did not get it!  He could _not_ risk his position.

“It is imperative I talk with this Dr. Weir without any interference or knowledge by Taethos,” he hoped that his currently transmission was not being recorded by anyone nearby, otherwise, the words he said could've seriously compromised him.

The silence on the other end stretched for a few minutes before Caldwell's voice returned, albeit reluctantly.  “All right then...”

“I will await another one of your...ships to pick me up at this location,” he prepared to press a few more buttons to transmit his position when Caldwell interrupted him.

“That won't be necessary,” he said, “just step outside and we will beam you aboard.”

“Beam?” Akiesios blinked in surprise.  These humans were definitely far more advanced than anyone else.  Perhaps they were Asurans  in disguise?  But even that wouldn't make sense as Taethos would have surely gotten rid of them as fast as possible if that had been discovered.  He would not have gone to the great lengths to establish trade relations with these people.

There was no answer and he suspected that this time the connection had been cut and reluctantly got up and headed to the back.  He opened the landing ramp and stepped out, closing it behind him as the _alin'raer_ disappeared into its camouflage once more.  His senses still on alert, he couldn't see, smell, nor hear anyone nearby...

And just as suddenly his vision was replaced by a cool metallic grey-blue vision of beams, angles, and the potent smell of oils and metals.  But there was more than that as he saw multiple guns pointed at him and he raised his hands slightly, the universal gesture of surrender.

                                    *                      *                      *

The room they left him in was sparse, with only a table and two chairs.  However, it did provide a spectacular view of the space and the orbiting planet of Acheron.  Akiesios had craned his neck from one side to the other, trying to get a good look at the warship he had been transported to in space.  The beaming technology...it felt very similar to the ones the Serin'thus used on their ships the last time he had ridden in one, which was at least a couple of thousand years ago.

The soldiers had disarmed him and he had been waiting for about twenty minutes before the door opened once more and in stepped a man dressed in a green uniform with [CALDWELL] written on a tag of sorts.  This had to be the Colonel Caldwell he was talking to before he was beamed up aboard his ship.  “Your ship is impressive,” he started with what he hoped was a compliment, “I did not know that your kind have advance so much since the settlement of the lost city of Lantis.”

“How do you-”

“I questioned your men,” he replied quickly before realizing that it was the wrong thing to say and held up a hand, “they were somewhat forthcoming about the information, and I have not harmed them, but I did find out some curious things about your race.”

“Such as?” Caldwell crossed his arms skeptically.

“That your kind has beaten the Goa'uld, and they only exist in one part of the universe, a part of the galaxy to which the Alin'thus were originally from before they came here and retreated back after their defeat by the hands of the Wraith.  With your kind occupying Atlantis, this can only mean you are the Tau'ri, the second-born children of the Alin'thus,” he hoped his hypothesis was correct based on the information he had gathered and extrapolated.

“The Ancients,” Caldwell replied.

“Alterans,” he breathed a quick mental sigh of relief, his hypothesis was correct.  These were the children of the Alin'thus that they were dealing with.  But that also meant his own mission had gotten a lot harder.

“How do we know you're not lying?” the Colonel looked at him shrewdly.  “For all I know, you could have already killed Colonel Sheppard and the other men that were captured by Taethos.”

Akiesios opened his mouth to reply when a gentle knock to the door stopped him and both turned to see it open and his jaw dropped a few centimeters at the person who walked through.  It couldn't be...

“Because, Colonel, he is known to me, and I know he is sincere in his word,” Hermiod stepped in, his light spindly feet barely making any sound on the metal deck.

“Hermiod,” for a few seconds he forgot how to breathe, but seeing his long forgotten and very old friend walk in was like a heaven-send.

“Hello Akiesios,” the cantankerous Serin'thus, or Asgard as they were known in the Tau'ri and Alin'thus tongue, replied congenially before blinking his bulbous black eyes once at Colonel Caldwell, “this, Colonel, is a Furling.”

“Klisan'thus,” Akiesios muttered absently, having spent so much time amongst his own kind that he had almost forgotten the name the other races gave to his kind back in the days of the Great Alliance.  It was before the other races, besides the Alterans, had discovered that they possessed an alternate more human looking form.  They had been so proud back then too, constantly staying in their natural state instead of conforming to all the humanoid forms the other races were using.  It was only after the start of the Alliance that each Furling had designed their own humanoid form.  Even now, with the rare birth of a new member of their long-lived race they did not really go through the initiation rite of choosing a human form to show others.

“I can see that, but what I don't know is how you two know each other,” Caldwell sounded shocked, but did not show it on his face.  Akiesios knew he had the makings of a very good commander and was probably one of the reasons why he was captain of this space-faring warship.

Hermiod looked at him curiously and though it was hard to read any emotions in the Serin-no, he knew he should use Asgard- in the Asgard's faces, he had plenty of experience reading the alien's expressions, having spent so much time on a previous mission with him long ago.  Akiesios took a deep breath and let it out slowly before pinning Caldwell with a look, “Please do not be alarmed, Colonel.  I will explain in a moment.”

“What-”

When a Klisan'thus shapeshifted to their human form, it was usually a moderately fast process.  However, one could speed it up or slow it down depending on the circumstances.  Speeding it up however was highly unnatural and injury would normally occur within the organs as they rearranged themselves.  But he decided to take it slowly as not to startle the Colonel into calling his soldiers in once more.  He closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling his furs shrink into his body, replaced by the cool soft skin of a human's then the warm comforts of the skin-tight body armor that all of them were required to wear once they had first shifted into their human forms for the first time.

He could feel his organs shift within his body, his breath coming in short.  A moment of panic filled him as he couldn't draw enough breath, and he shuddered a bit in fear, but forced himself to continue on.  He had not shapeshifted to his human form in such a long time that the initial panic at feeling his organs change and shift to sustain him in this new form was jarring.  It was due to Taethos' insistence that only he and his select group of men and women would be able to switch to their human forms to greet visitors from the chapp'ai.

Finally he felt the last of his transformation finish and opened his eyes, immediately seeing his vision dim to human standards.  The only thing he couldn't figure out was how humans or rather any of the species the Alin'thus, or even the Alin'thus themselves could see with such poor vision.  Hell even the Asgard had bigger, bulbous eyes that were able to see the different ranges of vision, ultraviolet, and even into the infrared without any problems.

Caldwell looked a little different now, but his face was still with shock.  Akiesios bowed slightly, making his bow a bit deeper to cover his stumble as his mind fought to control his human form.  “Colonel Caldwell, I am Arileon Apollo of the Agentus.”

“A-Arileon?  Agentus?  But you said you were-”

“Ah,” Apollo realized he had not explained the significance of the different forms, “forgive me.  We Kli-err...we Furlings have different names for our two different forms.  In our natural state, we refer to ourselves with our proper names.  In human forms, we find that it is easier for the Alin-the Alterans to pronounce a variation of our names in their tongue.  My human form is called Apollo.  You may refer to me as such.”

“Apollo, as in the Greek God Apollo,” Caldwell looked miffed.

“Yes,” Apollo was a bit confused to the Colonel's expression until he realized that not one of the Tau'ri or anyone had known that they were the original progenitor of that sort of mythology.

“I presume Arileon is some kind of title?”

“It is your equivalent of...perhaps a Major?  I do not know your military command structure too well,” he admitted, “members of the Agentus only answer to the High Council on missions deemed the highest security risks to our people and our efforts in the war we are fighting.”

“War?” the balding Colonel asked.

“Against the Wraith and the Asurans,” Apollo saw the spark of recognition in the Colonel's eyes.

“And how why am I not surprised?” the Colonel replied acerbically, “you could have gotten that information from our people down there.”

Apollo sighed; he thought he had gotten through to the Colonel, but it really seemed that the man was quite stubborn and paranoid to a point.  The second-born children of the Alterans were definitely more...unique...than he had thought.  “I could have,” he rubbed the bridge of his nose resisting the urge to look even more unprofessional in front of this man.  Contrary to what some of his own people thought, he did have a sense of decorum when it came to military affairs.  “But what I am telling you amounts to treason within my own people and especially within the Agentus.”

“Apollo, are you sure that is wise-”

He smiled congenially at his old friend, “If you are here Hermiod, it means that these people _are_ the Tau'ri, and it means that I must do everything within my power to make sure that the Alterans' second-born come to no harm by Taethos' hand.”  He turned to Caldwell and straightened himself a bit, “I have a proposal to give to you and to your leader, Dr. Weir.”

“And it is?”

“I will destroy the Wraith'gul if you will help me kill Taethos.”

                                    *                      *                      *

Elizabeth frowned slightly, “What kind of proposal?”  Part of her was still dealing with the aftermath of what Taethos said and so she did not really trust the Furling speaking to her.  But she could see Caldwell behind him, looking none too happy, and briefly wondered if the _Daedalus_ had been compromised during the time she was talking with Taethos and Kolya.

Apparently the Furling called Akiesios picked up on her thoughts, “I am alone Doctor, and Colonel Caldwell has kindly allowed Hermiod and I to adjust the settings of this ship to transmit to you through video.”

“Really?” she blinked in surprised.  Hermiod allowing someone to tamper with parts of the ship?

“Please, Doctor, I mean you and your people no harm, unlike Taethos,” the Furling sounded hesitant and she immediately picked up on that.

“Why should we trust you?  Taethos has threatened the welfare of my men if we were to interfere with his plans.  How do we know you're telling the truth and none of my men are hurt?”

“Because I am the base's physician and I have treated all of your men, except for the ones who had died in the initial firefight and when Colonel Sheppard assaulted the base.”

“And Sheppard?” Elizabeth managed to keep her voice steady.

“Alive,” was the short reply, “as is the Satedan.  The rest of the men on the assault team, I am regretful to say, did not survive.”

Elizabeth nodded, remembering the stark image of seeing all four bodies of the Marines that had accompanied John and Ronon coming back.  Two of them were headless, their heads rolling in as an afterthought before the shield was raised once more.  “What about Major Lorne and his teams?”

“They are alive.  However, I believe a couple of your scientists perished in the immediate ambush.  An Athosian woman was with them, along with a rather hyperactive scientist.”

That meant that Rodney and Teyla were also alive and the tightness she had been feeling in her chest eased ever so slightly at the good news.  “Thank you,” she replied quietly.

He gave a curt nod before glancing behind him before straightening himself started to...change.  It happened quickly, but Elizabeth saw his feline features disappear before a very handsome blue-eyed man stood before them, dressed in tight black matte body armor.  She heard gasps behind her as the rest of the personnel in the control room stared at the video feed and even she was shocked at what had happened.

“I believe,” the voice had lost its gutteral feline quality and instead sounded more cultured and there was an accent in it that Elizabeth thought was British, “we can finally talk face to face, Dr. Weir.”

“How...”

“The Klisan'thus, or Furlings in the language of the Alterans and Tau'ri, are shapeshifters.  We took on a humanoid form long ago when we were drafting the terms of the Great Alliance believing that it would help the others recognize facial gestures more easily and be able to trust us.  I am extending this trust to you, Dr. Weir, and to the members of your expedition.”

“But Taethos-”

“Is abusing such power,” the Furling replied sharply, “to deceive someone without the knowledge of our abilities is one of the sacraments my people hold dear.”  He paused for a second, clearly trying to calm himself, “We have also given our human forms an alteration of our natural names so it would fall easier on the language of your people, thus extending the trust.  You may call me Apollo if you wish.”

Elizabeth blinked in surprise.  Compared to Taethos' scathing tone regarding the role in waking the Wraith, this Furling was actually being civil.  “What is your proposal then, Apollo?”

“I will destroy the Wraith'gul if you help me kill Taethos,” he looked at her levelly.

“But Taethos can detect any form of travel, especially the _Daedalus'_ approach to the planet,” she pointed out.

“Yes he can,” Apollo nodded, “but I can get to the control room where the sensors are and turn it all off, thus giving Colonel Caldwell another chance to beam his men on the ground.  Judging by Taethos' eagerness, I suspect he will move soon.”

“You haven't heard?” she was still skeptical that Apollo would be working against Taethos.  It was too close to be a coincidence.  “Taethos plans to invade the Genii homeworld within the next couple of hours.”

Apollo frowned, “Then he is moving faster than I had anticipated.  I will have to contact the Agentus for reinforcements of my own.”

“Pardon?”

He gave her a small smile, “The Agentus reports to the High Council, our governing body and to them alone.  I am an Arileon, a middling rank, perhaps like your Major in the military sense.  My mission has been to infiltrate the traitor Taethos' group and to dispose of him when the timing was right.  My plans have been accelerated when I discovered that your people are of the Tau'ri and at least one from Colonel Sheppard's assault force possesses the genetic makeup of the Alterans.  I fear that perhaps the others Taethos had kept alive also possess that gene.”

“Why?” Elizabeth asked, puzzled before Radek spoke up behind her.

“The Wraith'gul,” he muttered a string of curses in Czech, “it needs an Ancient to activate it, or at least someone with the gene to use it, right?”

“Yes,” Apollo tilted his head trying to see Radek who stepped up next to Elizabeth and the handsome man nodded, “Your colleague is correct in that assumption.  My proposal is simple.  Since you have told me that Taethos will be invading the Genii homeworld soon, he will be distracted.  In that time between the invasion and securing the chapp'ai, I will shut down the sensors, allowing the _Daedalus_ to come closer and beam down the necessary soldiers to help secure the base.  I am uploading the plans to the compound.  While that is happening, I will free your men and make my way to the Wraith'gul to destroy it.”

“Can it be destroyed?  I've always thought that the stuff the Ancients left behind was almost indestructible,” Radek pushed his glasses worriedly up his nose.

“It is neither my wish nor the desire of the Agentus or High Council to destroy one of the greatest weapons we have against the Wraith, but at this moment we do not have a choice.”

“Why not?” Elizabeth asked, puzzled.

“Because the with an open wormhole to the Genii homeworld, Taethos will use the Wraith'gul to surely destroy not only the Genii who oppose Acastus Kolya, but also to destroy the Furlings.”

                                    *                      *                      *

Major Marcus Lorne resisted the urge to peer over McKay's shoulder at the man's scribbling and calculations he was making on his tablet PC.  It was one of the objects that they had been attempting to conceal from the Klisan'thus ever since Taethos' shapeshifting creatures had thrown the good doctor into the cell.  The original attempt to build something akin to a bomb to get themselves out of here required cannibalizing McKay's tablet, but Lorne had stopped that, knowing that whatever information the astrophysicist had stuck in the tablet would be pretty useful in the long run.  Plus he would never hear the end of the whining from the man if they did such a thing.  And he did not need another headache right now.

But he was still curious as to what McKay was frantically scribbling on the tablet that made him so worried.  “Any luck Doc?” he asked quietly, kneeling down next to him.  It had been at least an hour since Kolya had taken Lieutenant Wescott away and while he had no doubt what was the fate of the young L-T, he still wished there was something he could have done.

He knew Sheppard would have done something, the man was better at thinking on his feet than he was.  He refused to let the guilt of watching his own men and women die under his command when he couldn't do shit about it.  There would be time for guilt later...right now, he had to focus on what they had.  And what they had was one Dr. Rodney McKay scribbling and frowning.

“McKay?” he asked again after he didn't get a reply.

“Working,” the man muttered annoyed.

“On what?” if there was one thing Lorne knew he was good at was wheedling and annoying the heck out of McKay.  Even he knew his CO did not have that infinite of patience to get McKay to reveal his information without usually shouting at him or threatening him with bodily harm of lemons or impending death.

He kept his face neutral as McKay glared at him before pointing to his notes, “The weapon, Wraith'gul, whatever they call it.  The weapon that'll end up killing all of us, thus preventing the Wraith from ever feeding in this galaxy ever again and have them die of starvation.  I'm translating as much as I can.”

“And?” he prompted.

McKay rolled his eyes, “Well since we're all going to die horrible deaths in any case, I would like to at least see if we can use this to plan our escape, right?”

“Either case?” Teyla scooted over from where she sat and even Ronon was listening with an interested ear from his position by the door of the cell, watching for any approaching Klisan'thus or Genii.

“The weapon, it's attuned to the Ancients DNA, which means, the Ancients built it – languages around it not withstanding, but to activate it, you apparently need the ATA gene.”

“So how come you said you couldn't activate it, I thought you had the gene therapy,” Lorne was a bit confused.

“I was getting to that,” McKay said shortly, “it looks like the Ancients attuned it so someone with a natural gene would be able to mess with it.  I didn't notice it at first, but Dr. Hendrisk has a pretty mild version of the ATA gene, from what I read on her file.  It looked like it activated for her, until I was able to get a better reading of the weapon.”

“So this weapon, only activates for those who have the natural gene instead of the artificial therapy?” Teyla tried to put it into a coherent thought.

“Seems so,” McKay looked a bit distressed about it, “looks like the Ancients may have been messing with gene therapy themselves, which would explain why some of the people in this galaxy can use Ancient technology, but I guess they wanted to make sure that only they would be able to use the weapon.”

Lorne had grown quiet during the exchange, his thoughts racing.  Ever since he and his original team had been caught by Cowen and the Genii over a year ago, Dr. Weir had made a few changes to the roster so that every off-world team did not have more than one or two people with the Ancient gene.  Ironically, Captain Pearson was a member of his original team and had the Ancient gene.  However, it was through the gene therapy so  the Pearson did not have to worry about anything thankfully.  He himself though...

“Major, what about you and Captain Pearson?” Teyla had an uncanny knack of picking out the right questions along people's line of thinking.

“Therapy,” Quinn Pearson called out from where he was sitting, trying to work with Lieutenant Brown on something else that could become an explosive or hell even a corrosive to break the bars.

Teyla nodded mostly to herself before looking at him and he kept his expression as still as possible.  “Natural,” he replied.

“Oh,” McKay made a small noise before glancing down at his tablet and tapping a few more buttons.

Lorne looked at the scientist mildly.  He would have expected a much harsher reaction from the man, give the fact that he was always so pent up with emotion and stress.  This lack of reaction caught him off guard.  “Oh?” he asked, curious.

McKay huffed and gave him a very annoyed look, “What do you want me to say?  Congratulations, you may be able to kill us all?!”

Lorne's gut reaction was to shoot back with a rude remark of his own, but instead, he kept his temper and instead said, “Thank you, which button do I press?”

“Ha, ha, very funny,” the astrophysicist replied before glancing down at his tablet, “let's just hope that these guys don't figure it out.”

“They've been here for a while; you think maybe they would know?” Ronon spoke up quietly.

“I don't know, I've been-”

“It would seem so,” Teyla overrode whatever snide remark McKay was about to give to Ronon, thus keeping the peace between the two, “Taethos, shapeshifting or not, looked like he had an established community here.  And if the stories they have been telling us about the Wraith'gul are true, then it would seem that he knows more about the weapon than we suspect.”

“And that it needs an Alteran to activate the weapon,” a soft, yet melodically cultured voice with an accent that sounded faintly like British spoke up from the other side of the cells and everyone turned to see a man dressed in the grey-uniform staring at them.

Even Ronon looked surprised, backing slightly away from the bars, having not even heard him come in.  “Where the hell did you come from?” the Satedan asked, surprised.

“You may call me Apollo,” the man introduced himself, “or, you may better know me as Akiesios.”

                                    *                      *                      *

 


	7. Breakout

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

**Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.

**Notes:** So I’ve had a few interesting reviews for the last chapter which tickled me.  I just wanted to address concerns of the pairings in this story in this notes section.  I am by far, not a romance writer – hence the “hints” of pairings.  I specialize in action and convoluted plots (and making everyone’s lives hellish as possible before patching them all up).

            Also I just finished watching Season 4’s “Outcast” after much debate on whether I really should give Sam another chance in Atlantis, but since it was a Sheppard-centric episode, I only saw her for 1 scene so I couldn’t judge.  The result?  I am itching to write David Sheppard into perhaps either part 2 or 3 of my trilogy or even start a completely different fic regarding Shep’s past history.  Anyone know of any good fanfics out there regarding the estranged brothers?

**Story:**

_Chapter 7 – Breakout_

 

Amongst her people, she had heard of the legends of a powerful race that had walked the lands with the Ancestors, the ones the humans from Earth called Ancients.  She had seen the legends come true when Taethos had captured them and had changed his form from feline-like to human and back.  To Teyla, the hope of the benevolent race that legends said were allies of the ancestors had been shattered.  But now...staring at the Klisan'thus that called himself Akiesios, or Apollo, which name she did not know, that spark of hope was kindled once more.

“But Akiesios is that short cat…” Rodney looked bewildered for a second before his mind caught up with his words, “you’re that short cat?!”

The man before them grimaced for a second before shaking his head, “I’ll pretend you did not just call us like those lowly feline creatures the Goa’uld Ra used to have around him.”

“But how…?” Teyla could not comprehend why the diminutive Klisan’thus who had given her medicine to heal them would now appear in human form, unless he had been sent by Taethos to bring them before Kolya?

“There isn’t much time,” he hurried forward and produced an odd looking squarish-device and passed it over a few of the bars; “Taethos, Kolya and their men are currently distracted with invading the Genii homeworld.”

“What are you…” whatever Major Lorne was about to say trailed off as their cell door suddenly popped open and everyone stared at Apollo.

He gave them a puzzling look before gesturing for them to follow him.  Teyla immediately got up, hurrying forward as Ronon immediately took advantage of the open cell and loped out.  “Ronon, wait!” she saw him move towards Apollo deliberately and realized what he was going to do.  However, she was only able to grasp the edges of his tattered tunic before he roughly slammed the startled human-formed Klisan’thus up against the nearest wall, making him drop the squarish object and instinctively grabbed Ronon’s arm across his throat.

“Stop!” Teyla raised her voice slightly, deliberately wedging herself between the two men, her hand a firm grip on Ronon's forearm.  She stared at him, seeing his teeth bared slightly in anger, his dark eyes glittering with barely controlled rage.  “Ronon, please,” she put as much urgency and pleading into her voice, trying to push past his rage and get him to release Apollo.  Klisan’thus or not, the man had released them and that had to count for something.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Apollo’s face was turning red from the lack of oxygen, his hands trying to pry the arm from his neck.

Ronon’s eyes flashed dangerously, “You’re not changing back…”

“I…” Apollo wheezed with an effort, “I…mean you no harm…and to change now, would…only damage both…you…and me…”

“Really,” the Satedan did not look convinced, but just as suddenly, stepped back, releasing his grip on Apollo’s neck and the man slid half to the ground, choking and wheezing as he tried to draw more breath.  Teyla’s immediate instinct was to help him, but in all of her years with John and his team it made her more wary of a trap and instead, she stepped back and shook her head at Ronon who only shrugged at her disapproval.

“When we change,” Apollo rubbed his neck gingerly before standing up, using the wall as a brace, “it is when we are most vulnerable.  If I had done so, you could have easily crushed my windpipe with your strength or my hands could have changed first and accidentally ripped your arm apart.”  He looked sideways at Ronon who stood stoically with his usual cryptic smile.

She knew that smile was only a façade for him to present to others.  The smile that said he did not trust a word the man was saying, but would gamely play along.  He had only used it once on her, during their initial sparring session before he had never used it again.

“Yes, yes, that’s good an all,” Rodney’s voice cut into the conversation before he stepped up and looked at Apollo, “can we go now?”

Apollo swallowed, wincing in pain before nodding, “Yes, follow me.  I will lead you to where your weapons have been stored.”

“Whoa, hold on a second,” Lorne held up a hand, “before that, where’s Colonel Sheppard?”

“He is still healing, I will retrieve him after we get your weapons,” Apollo looked at him, his face mostly unreadable, but Teyla could see that he was worried.

“Not good enough,” Ronon looked about ready to slam him up the wall again, “we’re coming too.”

The human formed Klisan’thus opened his mouth once to protest before closing it and shook his head, “As you wish.”  He gestured for them to follow him and headed down one of the halls.  Teyla followed behind Ronon who took the lead, his eyes dead set on the man as he led them through the maze of corridors.  Behind her, she could hear Rodney shuffling, all the while still tapping on his tablet, Major Lorne, Captain Pearson, and Lieutenant Brown following in the rear.

“We do not have much time,” Apollo called back to them, “I have talked with Colonel Caldwell and Dr. Weir about an escape plan.  I have also contacted the Agentus for back up and they should be sent soon.  After Colonel Sheppard has been released, we must reach the control room for this base to disable the sensors and allow your warship, the _Daedalus_ to beam down more soldiers to distract Taethos and his men.”

“What good’s a distraction going to be?  I mean, you guys use weapons similar to the staff weapons the Goa’uld use and they fire faster!” Rodney called behind her and she turned her head slightly to see that he had put the tablet away and was hurrying to keep up with them.

“Taethos plans to invade the Genii homeworld in a couple of hours,” Apollo replied, “I must stop him and destroy the Wraith’gul before he can use it to wipe my people out.”

“You’re Genii?”

“But the Wraith’gul needs an Ancient or someone with the gene to use it, you said so yourself!” both Lorne and Rodney’s voices asked at the same time.

They turned another corridor before stopping in front of a door and Apollo tapped a series of keys on a small hidden control panel before the door slid open and gestured for them to enter.  Teyla stepped into the small room and immediately saw her tac vest, P90 and Wraith stunner on the ground.  She picked up her gear and immediately put it on; checking to make sure everything was secure.

“Yes,” Apollo answered Lorne’s question, “I overheard the hyperactive-“

“I am not hyperactive and my name is Dr. Rodney McKay than you very much,” Rodney groused from his corner as he secured his own tac vest and weapons.

“-Dr. McKay’s statement regarding the Wraith’gul’s activation,” Apollo continued smoothly as if Rodney did not say anything.  He looked at them nervously, “If I had known you were the second-born children of the Alterans, I would have freed you sooner.  I am sorry…”

The familiar whine of Ronon’s gun powering up made Teyla dart a look at the Satedan to see him pointing it at Apollo who looked mildly surprised, but also a resigned expression appeared on his face.  “You may shoot me if you want, Satedan, and make your way out of the base yourself, but please honor my last request, destroy the Wraith’gul before you leave this place, otherwise, my mission will be for naught.”

 “Mission?” Ronon asked his voice neutral.

Apollo drew himself up and Teyla frowned slightly.  The way the man held himself…it was very similar to the posture she had seen in all of the military personnel within Atlantis, especially on John and on Major Lorne whenever they were faced with someone questioning their decisions.  Apollo, Akiesios, whatever name he went by, he was military…that much was certain.

“I am Arileon Apollo of the Agentus.  My mission was to infiltrate Taethos’ group of rebels and assassinate him if he posed a threat to my people.  We are not Genii, but the effects of the Wraith’gul when sent through the chapp’ai have the ability to affect my homeworld,” he said, his blue eyes glittering with pride.

“Your people, the Klisan’thus,” Ronon tilted his head, his eyes hard and unreadable.

“My people, the Furlings,” Apollo replied.

And in that moment, Teyla knew something profound had changed, but she did not know what it was.

                                    *                      *                      *

Dr. Rodney McKay always prided himself on figuring out the solution to the toughest problems.  He also prided himself on his vast knowledge of both the alien races Stargate Command had encountered over the years, especially with his one-year exile to Russia, and his subsequent trip to the Pegasus Galaxy.  Even after they had established continued contact with Earth over a year ago, he still prided himself on knowing all of the facts of the war in the two galaxies and what efforts were being made to halt both the Ori and the Wraith.  After all, such knowledge and discoveries in either galaxy would perhaps benefit one front of the war or the other.

And with that fact in stone, he knew that the last of the four races of the Great Alliance had never been discovered or hinted about in any of SG-1 or any of the SG teams’ missions throughout the years of operation.  There was just an arbitrary mention of the Furlings on PB2-908 in the ruins of what was once a great meeting hall where SG-1 had discovered it on one of their first missions.  All four races that had banded together to form an alliance had communicated with the common language of the atoms that had made up the periodic table, but that was the last time the Furlings had been mentioned.

There was another mission that Rodney had heard involved the once-disgraced Colonel Harry Maybourne and archways that transported people over vast distances, but most of that mission report had been deemed top level classified, signed and sealed by General O’Neill himself and he had no inclination to cross paths with O’Neill any more than he had to, given the fact that the man did not like him.

But to find out that Apollo, Akiesios, whatever his name was, that he was a Furling, the last missing race of the alliance, was completely mind boggling.  Not so much in the scientific sense, but more in the what-the-hell-did-we-do-to-deserve-this type of sense.

“Furlings…” he blinked, staring at the handsome man.  “Oh…” his mind raced at the possibilities, a thousand questions as to who, what, and why did they leave, along with so much more, but all his mouth could say was that simple word.  However, just as fast, his mind was racing towards the implications of the Wraith’gul, the fact that it was such a dangerous weapon, they needed to destroy it quickly before it could kill them all; and why did the Ancients even build such a thing in the first place?  Shouldn’t they have known that humans were going to be curious about their technology – not that he had any problem poking around and finding out things worked – he really liked that sort of thing, figuring out how life worked was another-

“McKay!” Lorne’s bark of his name startled him out of his thoughts as he realized that everyone else was waiting for him in the hall and he was the only one left in the little closet space where their tac vests and weapons had been thrown in.

“Oh, sorry,” he apologized hastily before hurrying forward and brushed past the Major, ignoring his eye-roll and followed behind Teyla and Ronon who was on point.  Apollo walked in front of them, cautiously pausing occasionally to listen for any signs of guards who may have discovered their escape.

They stopped in an intersection of the two halls and his worry jumped a little higher.  “Why did we stop?  What’s-“

“The control room is down there.  There should be three Klisan’thus on duty.  My access code is,” Apollo paused for a second, before shrugging to himself, “I believe perhaps 44325 if the Tau’ri uses a base of 10 like the Alterans?”

“Yes,” Rodney replied quickly at the look directed to him from the Furling.  “And why do you call them Klisa’nthus when you’re Furlings?”

“Because in our natural state, we are _Klisan’thus_ , in your humanoid shape, we are Furlings.  My people believe it to be easier for your kind to comprehend,” he definitely heard the slight arrogant tone the man used and bristled.  A part of him wanted to come up with a witty reply of sort to knock Apollo down a few pegs, but he caught the warning look Major Lorne gave him and backed down.

However, something still niggled at him.  “Where are you going?”

“To get Colonel Sheppard,” Apollo replied before turning to Lorne, “my code should be able to lock the door behind you should you encounter any resistance.”

“Whoa wait, I should-“

“McKay we’re going to need you to crack the computers,” the Major’s tone brook for no argument and he sighed.

“Fine,” he hated when everyone relied on him.  Yes he could work with pressure, but this constant pressure was enough to break some people.  It was a miracle that he hadn’t been driven completely insane by his working conditions yet.  “Always rely on the scientist,” he grumbled as he followed Lorne and his men down one of the halls, Apollo, Teyla, and Ronon going down the opposite way.

As they headed to the control room he noted that all of the walls looked the same, dreary and very reddish and dry.  He knew that if someone handed him a map of the place, he would have a very hard time getting out let alone figure out where he was.

He drew out his handgun, nervous as he saw Lorne, and Brown slide up against the entrance of one side of the walls, him and Pearson on the other.  He knew he was expected not to participate what was probably an upcoming firefight, and while he was grateful for that, he still couldn’t help but feel a twinge of fear.  He hated firefights, was a poor shot, and they always ended up with him getting at least an injury of sorts, no matter how minor.

His last injury was from Sheppard himself as the man had obviously not possessed all of his mental faculties and shot him!  Shot him like he was some enemy Wraith!  Without even listening to his pleas!  He would have thought that the years of their grudging…friendship, he was reluctant to admit, that Sheppard would at least somehow recognize or at least hear a man’s pleas before shooting.

He saw Lorne make a signal for three before a couple of other signals that he did not really recognize.  Rodney wished he had learned some military hand signals from Sheppard as he felt completely out of the loop.  The Major punched the series of numbers on the control panel and just as suddenly the door slid open and all of them rushed in.  Rodney followed behind, his gun pointed downwards like he was taught and he peered in just in time to see three of the Klisan’thus fall to the ground in a burst of gunfire before silence reigned once more.

“Huh…” he muttered mostly under his breath as he stepped in cautiously.  He would never admit it, but seeing how fast a strike team worked when ambushing people was a visceral experience to say the least.

“Pearson, Brown, secure the door and lock it.  McKay, front and center,” Lorne barked at him and he hurried over to the console that had been once occupied by a Klisan’thus, stepping over the large furry body before sitting down in the chair.

He tapped a few keystrokes on what looked like their version of a keyboard before looking up at the monitor and a pit of dread formed in his stomach.  This couldn’t be…  “Oh no,” he groaned as he stared at all of the symbols and tapped a few more keys.

“What?” Lorne demanded behind him.

He grimaced, wondering how he was going to figure this one out.  “According to the sensors,” he could barely read the fast moving Lantean symbols let alone translate about half of the stuff on the screen, but most of it was somewhat similar to the systems of Atlantis itself, “its connected to the stargate itself.  If we deactivate the sensors, we have no way of getting off this planet.”

“So, the _Daedalus_ is in orbit, according to what Apollo said,” Lorne shrugged and Rodney shook his head, military types, they did not get it.

“Yeah, but it also is telling me that there’s at least a hundred of not more Klisan’thus, Genii, whatever, on the planet right now, most of them going through the stargate.  We deactivate the sensors now, we shut the gate down.  And that will render us unable to see anyone!”

“And they’ll figure out that it’ll be from here,” Lorne slowly nodded, realizing the dire situation they were in.

“Yes!” he hated being right, “and right now, if they know where here, we won’t be able to escape, grand plan or not!  The _Daedalus_ can’t tell which one of us is which so they can’t beam us out even if they wanted to!”

“Can’t we just leave now and go to an isolate spot-“

“No!” good God, how hard was it to press upon the clueless Major that they were utterly screwed over this time, “you don’t get it.  There are hundreds of Furlings, Genii, whatever crawling around up there right now.  More than we encountered in the village.  It doesn’t matter if Sheppard came in that Jumper; we can’t get out with that many people around!”

“So what do we do?!” Lorne snapped back at him, and Rodney recoiled slightly at the harsh tone he used.

He opened his mouth several times, but just as he was about to reply, a beep from the console made him turn back and he stared up at the screen, tapping a few more buttons and brought up a layout of the compound they were in.  “Uh oh,” he breathed out quietly.

“What?”

“I think this is the hallway we split up, and I’m presuming that the three dots in that room,” he pointed vaguely at the three dots in a room, “is probably Apollo, Teyla, and Caveman.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, there are six dots moving towards that room,” he pointed to six dots moving rather quickly towards the three in the room.

“That’s not good,” Lorne muttered and it was the understatement of the year.

                                    *                      *                      *

Apollo glanced around the medical ward, breathing a quick sigh of relief as he saw that no one but the assistants that had been assigned to him had touched anything.  Transforming back to his natural form, he had walked in and hurried his assistants out of the ward, telling them that he needed to conduct some research in private and for them not to return for a while before changing back and gesturing to the Satedan and Athosian to come forth from their hiding spots.

 After he had told the humans that he was a Furling, he saw the humans’ faces light up in comprehension and recognition.  However, in the Satedan and Athosian, there was only confusion, but Major Lorne had placed a hand on the Satedan’s shoulder and whispered urgently in his ear, and it was only then that the pneumatic and energy powered gun was removed from his face.

He knew full well what the gesture meant from Ronon Dex.  It said that he was going to trust him for now, but if he made any suspicious moves, he would die instantly.  He had then explained his plan to them, for them to split up while he removed Colonel Sheppard from the _ne’u’lial_ and brought him to the control room.  He hoped by then that Dr. McKay would have figured out how to disable the sensors from the stargate and enable the _Daedalus_ to beam in soldiers to help them escape while he made his way towards the Wraith’gul.

“Well?” Dex looked anything but happy; his gun pointed towards the ground, but also not-quite towards him as he hurried towards the far side of the wall and activated the hidden panel on the wall and the secret compartment opened.

The _ne’u’lial_ slid partway out and opened with a gentle hiss.  He heard stifled exclamations of surprise from both Emmagan and Dex and ignored it as he smiled, seeing that Colonel Sheppard’s wounds had all healed, including his dislocated shoulder.  All that was left was some rips in his clothing, something the _ne’u’lial_ was not designed to fix, but it was not an inconvenience.

“The hell is that?” Dex growled as the two of them approached the _ne’u’lial_.

“This is the _ne’u’lial_ , it is a healing device we have developed that has the capabilities of even reviving the recently deceased,” he explained.

“Recently deceased?  Including those from Wraith attacks?” Emmagan looked concerned.

“No,” he shook his head, “unfortunately that is one aspect the _ne’u’lial_ cannot undo.”

“Got a funky name,” Dex muttered and Apollo wanted to shake his head when a sudden groan from Sheppard stopped his remark.

“Colonel Sheppard?” Apollo found himself pushed slightly to the side as Emmagan peered down into the golden depths with worried eyes.

“Ow,” Sheppard grimaced, opening his eyes and blinking a few times before sitting up gingerly, “why do I feel like I’ve been hit by a ton of bricks?”

Apollo gave a rueful smile and stepped forward, “You are very lucky to be alive, Colonel Sheppard.  If it was not for the _ne’u’lial_ , you would have died from internal bleeding and poisoning of your blood from your injuries.”

“Ne-what?” Sheppard looked at him owlishly before looking around him and he saw the human’s eyes widen in either surprise or shock he could not tell.  “This…this…it’s a sarcophagus, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Apollo looked at him, puzzled, “my people called it the _ne’u’lial_ , but sarcophagus is the Tau’ri and Goa’uld term.”

“You said Goa’uld,” the look Sheppard gave him was unreadable, but he thought he saw a spark of suspicion there.

“John,” Teyla placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “they call themselves the Klisan’thus, Furlings.”

“Furlings?!” if it was possible, the Colonel’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline as he stared at him.

“You may know me as Akiesios, the one who healed you?” he tried hesitantly.

“The cat-person?  You’re him?  But you’re…human,” Sheppard looked a bit confused and Apollo resisted the urge to hiss at the derogatory term.  _They did not know, they did not know_ , he repeated slowly to himself.

“We are shapeshifters,” he replied stiffly, “in my human form, I am called Apollo.”

“Oh, well…nice to meet you,” Sheppard gave him a hesitant smile before attempting to climb out of the _ne’u’lial_ with some help from Teyla, “still doesn’t explain about the sarcophagus.”

“The Goa’uld scavenged our technology,” it wasn’t quite the truth, but it would have to do for now considering the circumstances.

The Colonel gave him a look that clearly said he did not really believe what he had just said, but in light of a rescue, would not ask questions for now.  He accepted a FN P90, as he had found out from Colonel Caldwell what those large machine guns were called from Teyla who had been carrying two from the storage room and hefted it with his right hand, the tattered remains of his tac vest unable to clip the gun.

Apollo touched the panel once more and the _ne’u’lial_ slid back into its hidden compartment.  He turned around in time to see all three of them pointing their guns towards the door of his medical ward.  “What is it?” he asked, perplexed before he _smelled_ it.  Something wasn’t quite right…

“I thought I saw something down the hall before it disappeared,” Ronon growled and the hairs on the back of his neck tingled.  Something was definitely wrong…

“Oh no,” he realized what Ronon had seen just as he saw stars as the first punch raked across his face and pain flared across his head.

                                    *                      *                      *

John shifted his gun higher as the man who called himself Apollo suddenly flew across the room, crashing in a heap against a small cart full of surgical tubing and gauze.  He thought he saw a flash of something where Apollo had been standing and his finger automatically tightened on the trigger, sending a spray of bullets towards the area.

At the same time Teyla and Ronon opened fire on other parts of the room, but surprisingly they didn’t hit anything, only medical equipment and the walls.  Suddenly John found himself flying through the air as he felt something punch his chest.  He crashed heavily and painfully against a wall, banging his head against it and seeing his vision blur once before he slid down onto the ground.  A soft groan of involuntary pain emerged from his lips as he grimaced and tried to get up.

However, just as he tried to move, he felt something grab his throat and pin him to the ground, before it felt like someone stepped onto his chest, forcing the air out of his lungs.  He gasped, trying to breathe through his constricted windpipe before he heard a low growling sound and the air shimmered above him as a very large and furry Klisan'thus hovered above him.  On the creature's wrist was something that looked like a Sodan invisibility device that he had remembered reading about in the latest batch of mission reports from Stargate Command.

“Hold your fire Satedan if you wish your companions to live,” the familiar voice of Taethos made him slide his bleary gaze away from the growling Klisan'thus who was holding him down to see him pinning Apollo against the opposite wall, except it wasn't Taethos – but rather a very tall and dark furred with whitish streaks Klisan'thus speaking, his slit-eyes malevolent and a primal smile stretched across his jaw.  It looked like the hellish version of the Cheshire Cat.

It was also then that he noticed Apollo's face was smeared with a black ichor of sorts, blood he realized, from a set of nasty cuts parallel across his right cheek.  No doubt caused by Taethos in his initial attack against them.

Near the two he saw Teyla, also pinned much like he was by another Klisan'thus.  Ronon stood near her, gun switching back and forth to the different targets, his face unsure, frustration coloring his expression.  “How come you're not changing?” he asked loudly and John was confused as to why he asked that question when Taethos' cold laughter filled the air.

“Did he not tell you?  He would rather save his own skin than to help any of you precious Tau'ri,” Taethos chuckled, “yes, I know you are the vaunted Tau'ri, the second-born children.  It is why I have kept most of you alive, or at least those of you who carry the genes of the Alterans.”  He turned his head slightly, “And you, traitor, I knew you would have been loyal to the Agentus all these years.”

Apollo hissed something out that sounded a lot like a curse of sorts and was rewarded with a backhand to his face that whipped his head around and smeared more black blood against the wall.  Taethos' eyes flashed dangerously before he drew a calming breath and turned to Ronon once more.  “I ask only one more time, Satedan, lower your weapon and your friends will not have to die.”

He saw Ronon's gaze fall on him and John tried to shake his head no, to tell Ronon not to give into this sadistic bastard's demands, to blast them all to hell, but he couldn't even move his neck.  “Don't-” his words were choked off as the pressure on his neck increased and he began to see spots of black before his vision.

Just as he thought he was about to pass out from the lack of oxygen, he heard the whine of Ronon powering down his weapon and the pressure on his neck decreased instantly and he drew in a sliver of sweet, sweet, breath, even though the overwhelming pungent and gagging smell of wet cat hair filled his nostrils.  He coughed once, his chest hurting from the applied pressure.

“Good,” Taethos gestured to one of his men and from his line of vision he saw the Klisan'thus who had been holding Teyla down get up and grab Ronon's weapon before tossing it to the far corner.

“You still didn't change,” Ronon growled at Apollo who had a slightly dazed look to his eyes, still reeling from the blow Taethos gave to him.

“Don't you know, Satedan?  A Klisan’thus or Furling's change to different form is when they are the most vulnerable.  Ah, I can see it, you knew, but you did not believe it, shame,” Taethos gave them a toothy smile before suddenly grabbing Apollo by the front of his body armor and tossing him unceremoniously next to Teyla before walking over.

John suddenly found himself being hauled up by his tac vest and barely caught his feet on the ground as breathed in more air quickly and was shoved towards the impromptu group on the ground.  He stumbled and caught himself against the wall above Teyla's head before turning slightly and used it to support his still semi-unresponsive muscles, his breath coming in short quick gasps.  When he was thrown, the impact must have hit his spine a bit for his muscles not to move so well.

“It is why Apollo wants to save his own skin, not willing to die for any of you,” Taethos taunted as he towered over all of them, before glancing back to see a few more heavily armed Klisan'thus holding short looking miniature staff weapons on them, all activated and pointed at them.

He hadn't realized it before when he had first stormed the underground compound, but it had explained the beam weaponry they had encountered.  He had never seen a Jaffa staff weapon fired in real life, but had read about them from the various mission reports and even hefted one.  It certainly lent credence to the fact that the Goa'uld stole Furling technology based on what he was seeing.  He curled his fingers, a tingling feeling sweeping up and down his whole body as he could feel his nerves return to their normal functions.  However, he also knew that there was nothing he could do to free them.  One look at Apollo's bleeding face told him all he needed to know about the Klisan'thus and he still could remember the headless bodies of his men in the initial firefight.

“So,” he managed to make his muscles work in coordination and gingerly stood, “I'm guessing keeping us alive is a priority.”

“Correct, Colonel Sheppard,” Taethos gestured with a claw to one of his men and one lumbered forward with what looked like bindings and cuffed one end to one of Ronon's wrists before dragging him forward and clipped the other end to a medical palate that looked liked it was built into the wall.  He gestured again and two more Klisan'thus moved forward, both of them brandishing their weapons.

John got the hint and held his hands away from his body, saying that he wasn't going to make trouble and moved forward a little.  However, he frowned as he saw that it was not Teyla who also moved, but Apollo, picking himself gingerly off of the ground, still a bit dizzied, but staggered forward.  His frown turned to horror as he realized what Taethos intended.

It was as if everything slowed down right then and there as he turned to go back and somehow protect, shield, do something to stop Taethos from what he was going to do, but someone held firm on his arm, nearly yanking him off of the ground.  He looked to his left to see Taethos pull out not a short staff weapon like the ones his men were using, but rather a full length one that he had seen the Jaffa Teal'c carry around and pointed the bulbous end straight at Teyla whose face looked like it could have been carved from stone.

“NO!” John shouted as Taethos activated the weapon with a hiss and fired.

                                    *                      *                      *

 


	8. Alliance

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

**Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.

**Notes:** This is one of those “pay-attention-lots-of-answers” chapters.  Sorry if it’s all within the dialogue.  I tried to break it up so it isn’t a chunky read and yes I know I still left that nasty cliffhanger for all of you guys regarding Teyla’s fate.  Also, eagle-eyed readers can pick up on Artemis’ alternate name from one of my favorite sci-fi book.  I made the Furlings’ culture the way it is because it’s the only mythology that has not been poked upon heavily in any SG-1 episode (save for that bit about Athena-Vala connection).  Asgard are Norse, Goa’uld are Egyptian/Babylonian/Mesopotamian like, Ancients are mostly esoteric/mother nature/Merlin style – why not have Greco-Romans for Furlings!

            Also I noticed that some of the recent reviews address the issue of pairings, please dear readers, keep it nice and tidy with each other.  Don’t want the moderators of ff.net getting antsy about deleting your reviews within commentaries.  But I do enjoy reading your reviews/commentary.  Thanks!

**Story:**

_Chapter 8 –_ _Alliance_

 

The control room for Atlantis was a frenzy of activity, most of them from Radek and his team, all whom were still busily fielding translations from Dr. Jackson and his team in Stargate Command.  Elizabeth had immediately contacted General Landry with the news regarding Apollo’s proposal.  Now that they had a better understanding that they were dealing with, in regards to Taethos, her hope in getting this whole mess resolved was growing stronger.

However, it still did not mean she implicitly trusted what the Furling had told them and was still wary of a trap of sorts.  The only way she knew to confirm his words was to dial the address he had given for what he had said was the capital world of the Furlings.  The only planet in a previous thought uninhabited cluster with a stargate on it.

However, getting the gate to dial the address was another thing.  For one thing, they had discovered that the address Apollo gave them was in a remote section of the outer edges of the Pegasus galaxy where neither life nor stargates were listed.  All except for one and it was blocked out by Atlantis’ systems as a do-not-dial gate.  There were several of these types of addresses listed, and Elizabeth knew from previous mission reports from the SG teams and from experience that there was a good reason that some of the addresses weren’t meant to be dialed.

Based on the data Rodney and Radek had figured out, a few of them led to black holes.  She did not want a repeat of the fatal mission SG-10 had gone through over eight years ago that nearly lead to Earth’s own destruction.

The _Daedalus_ was still in orbit around M3R-154, but with the new video feed Apollo had graciously left for them, Colonel Caldwell would be able to see what was happening on their end when they hopefully made contact with Furlings.  General Landry had given her the go-ahaed to make first contact with the blessing from the IOA through Woolsey, and from the President himself.

Hermiod was not able to confirm the address, but had vouched for Apollo's character and mentioned something about a previous mission in which the two had been working together.  Elizabeth had been surprised to hear that piece of information and wanted to know more, but also knew that it wasn't the time or place to ask such frivolous questions.  Caldwell had told her that Apollo had contacted someone from the Agentus after they had initially disconnected the video feed, but did not know if he was successful in convincing them to send more troops.  He did tell her that he heard raised voices from both ends of the conversation though and that had him worried.

“Sergeant, what's the status on the address?” she asked the Canadian technician who was hovering over a laptop near the dialing console, tapping a few buttons.

“As far as I can read from Dr. McKay's notes, I don't think we'll encounter a black hole or anything that would affect our end of the connection,” Sergeant Chuck Raymond replied.

She bit her lip, “All right, dial the address.”  Touching her radio, “Radek?  Any more luck?”

“Just some more information.  Looks like the weapon is specifically designed to be used by only the Ancients and no one else.  We're still piecing the latest batch sent by Dr. Jackson, but that's all I've got.”

“Thank you,” she replied before shutting the radio off.  She turned one of the other techs sitting on a higher platform, “prep a UAV.”

“UAV, ma'am?” she looked slightly confused, “not a MALP?”

“If the stargate is in space, I don't want to lose a MALP,” Elizabeth replied.

“Understood,” the tech turned to make the arrangements just as Chuck started to dial the address.

As soon as the seventh symbol locked and the stargate activated with a kawoosh she glanced down at him as he looked at the readings on his laptop.  “No anomalies, ma'am, at least not at the moment.”

“Send the UAV,” she ordered and a few seconds later it went through with a quiet slurping sound.

A few seconds passed before she noticed the lack of video or anything registering on one of their main screens.  “Sergeant?” she asked, puzzled.

“No telemetry or feed ma'am,” he tapped a few keys on his laptop, “it's not even saying it’s registering or rematerializing.”

“How is that possible?” Elizabeth crossed her arms across his chest.

“I don't know ma'am,” he shook his head, “shield?  Or even a barrier of sorts?  The SGC has encountered barriers on occasion.”

“All right, transmit my signal through the gate,” she tapped her radio, “My name is Dr. Elizabeth Weir of the Atlantis expedition from Earth, home of the Tau'ri.  We've received your address from Arileon Apollo of the Agentus and would like to open a dialogue.”  Glancing at the others, she saw Radek running into the control room, a bit out of breath, but otherwise nodded a greeting.  “We believe,” she continued in a firm voice, “that one of your kind, a fellow Furling named Taethos plans to use the Wraith'gul to wipe out your people.”

It wasn't as eloquent as she could have put it, but she stuck to the facts that she knew and hoped for the best.  Her years of negotiation and diplomatic training told her that people liked the facts and could always tell when someone was trying to bend the truth.  It was why so many countries distrusted the United States after they went to war with Iraq under false circumstances.  She knew that they were slowly rebuilding the trust lost, but the damage had been done.

At least the IOA and the allied countries who knew of the Stargate program were still willing to leave a majority of the operations in American hands.

“Any answer?” she glanced at Chuck who shook his head.  She tapped her radio once more, “This is Dr. Elizabeth Weir of the Atlantis expedition-”

A loud crackle issued over the control room before a booming voice replied, “This is High Councilor Orcus of the Klisan'thus.  Your name is known to us.  We will lower our shield to allow you and only you to pass.  Come with no weapons or else we will consider your life forfeit.”

Elizabeth took a deep calming breath and glanced at Radek, “Keep in touch.”  The Czech scientist nodded before she glanced at the video feed of Caldwell who had a mildly surprised look on his face, “Colonel.”

“Doctor,” he gave her a faint smile, one she recognized that he did not like it one bit that she was going into an unknown territory without any guards or weapons for that matter, but knew that whatever he said would be ignored by her.  “Good luck.”

“Will do,” the corners of her lips twitched in an effort to smile, but she killed it just as fast.  She headed out of the control hub and down the stairs, ignoring everyone's gaze on her, all of them thinking the same thing.  If these were truly the Furlings, hopefully they would be able to resolve this whole mess and perhaps, gain new allies.  She approached the watery wormhole and paused for a second before stepping through, wondering if it was friend or foe on the other side.

                                    *                      *                      *

“Hurry it up, Doc!” Lorne's slightly strained tone only made Rodney even more irritated as he was wedged underneath the control circuits for the sensor console, trying to figure out how he could disable the two without shutting down the stargate.  He did not want angry cats raining down upon him even though shutting down the gate would be beneficial to their end and means of escape in the long run.

“I'm hurrying as fast as I can!” he shot back, not in the mood to be badgered by the Major, “and no, the threat of impending death and doom isn't going to help you this time!”

“What about the fact that there's a raiding party between us and the door?!” Lorne's reply made him blink and pause in his work.  He slid out from underneath the panel to see Lorne, Pearson, and Brown all by the door, which had been barricaded with the three Klisan'thus bodies and any spare furniture that was not bolted down in the room.  Lorne himself was pushing against what looked like a table that shook along with the door with each heavy rattle.

“Oh...shit,” he cursed quietly before sliding back underneath and grabbed his tablet.  He rarely cursed, finding that such words were crude and completely meaningless.  But this was one of those moments where he just wanted to curl up and have a moment to scream his head off.  Unfortunately, there was no room to curl up underneath the console.

He glanced sideways at his tablet and muttered a series of curses he had most recently learned from Zelenka.  The man would be proud of his potty mouth as he tried to figure out which circuits belonged to where.

“McKay!!” Lorne's muffled shout made him gnash his teeth further.

“I'm trying!” he shouted back.  As he continued to work, he briefly wondered why the Ancients made their systems so redundant and ridiculously complex.  It wasn't as if he could pull this thing out of his metaphorical magician's hat.  Ah ha!  He found something...  “Wait...I think I got...it!” he crossed a couple of the crystals and wires and just as suddenly everything went dark and silent.

“Oh,” Rodney sat in the silence, the distant muffles of banging on the door not even registering in his ears.  Pulling a flashlight out of his tac vest and flicking it on, he stared at the wires that had betrayed him, though he was pretty sure that all power throughout the base was out.  Time for Plan B...

                                    *                      *                      *

The trip through the wormhole was relatively short, almost like the blink of an eye, but as soon as Elizabeth stepped out of the other side, she was greeted by a majestic red-orange streaked sunset and a wide open forum, unlike Atlantis' closed atrium.  Grecian-like columns surrounded the area.  In fact, it looked eerily like the Parthenon from one of the many family trips around the world she had taken when she was just a little girl.

Her eyes immediately picked out the DHD on the steps below the stargate before they slid to the line of Klisan'thus all holding weapons that looked like Jaffa staff weapons pointed at her.  Behind her, the stargate deactivated with a zapping sound and silence reigned in the forum.  She slowly held her hands away from her body, “I am Dr. Elizabeth Weir, I come in peace and without weapons.”

The guards stood silently, still pointing their weapons at her.  She noticed that they were all dressed in some kind of uniform, military she suspected.  She did not know the height of a Klisan'thus, but if her memory served her correctly, judging from the distance she was to them, the Klisan'thus were very tall.  At least two meters if she was estimating correctly.  Some of them had different mottled fur, while others had solid colors, much like the various cat species they had on Earth.

She suspected calling them cats would be an insult...

“And so you have,” a deep voice behind her made her turn slightly to see Klisan'thus step over the stargate's threshold from behind and approach her.  She had to crane her neck upwards to stare into the feline face.

“High Councilor Orcus?” she tested the name.

He inclined his head once, his green slit-eyes focused on her.  She noted that his fur patterns were almost like a Prussian Blue's, except there was something different about it, something she couldn't place.  She suspected it was probably because she was a dog person instead of a cat person like Rodney, but she knew something was off.

“I presume Doctor is your title?”

“Yes,” she nodded, “civilian.  My people thought it prudent to assign a civilian to head our expedition to the lost city of the Ancients.”

“Alterans,” Orcus growled carefully and she nodded.

“Yes, that is what they call themselves,” she turned slightly as he walked past her and down the steps.

He paused half way down the steps and looked up at her, “Are you coming Dr. Elizabeth?”

Elizabeth blinked in surprise at the name Orcus had called her but nodded and followed, still uneasy at all of the weapons trained upon her as she made her way down the stairs and followed behind Orcus.  It was only until she reached the line of Klisan’thus that they all lifted their staff weapons at once and parted for her and Orcus to walk through unimpeded.

“ _Za'kutus_ ,” Orcus gestured with a clawed hand at the weapons the Klisan'thus were holding, “these are the Chapp'ai guards.  It is considered to be one of the duties our...Gry'ar...are expected to perform before they are assigned to their stations throughout the galaxy to fight our war.”

“We have something similar,” the military precision of the guards reminded her of the solemn duty of those who were assigned to the ArlingtonCemetery honor guard.  “We call our ground forces Army or Marines.  We also have soldiers who specialize in air combat and other duties related to the sky called Air Force and sea-based troops called Navy.”

“Ah,” Orcus nodded once, “Raer'ar _,_ our sky and space force.  We do not have any water-based forces as we consider the Raer'ar our ultimate combat force.”

“Then what is the Agentus?” she asked as he walked to the other side of the Parthenon and towards a set of doors that opened automatically.

She thought she saw Orcus pause in a step, but maybe it was a trick of the light as he stepped into a narrow hallway and continued to walk.  “A specialized military division of the High Council whose people report only to the High Council.”

Kind of like Black Ops, a part of her mind supplanted, or at least that was the impression she got from what Orcus told her.  He led her into a small room and she hesitated to step in with him before he turned and raised an eyebrow.  “We have transportation tubes similar to that of Lantis if that is where you claim you came from,” his voice was not overtly snide, nonetheless she caught a hint of a challenge in them, almost as if he believed she was lying and dared her to continue her charade.

She gave him her best diplomatic smile and stepped in.  The doors hissed close and a bright blinding light filled the room then a charging whine before just as suddenly the light disappeared and Elizabeth found herself standing in an impressive courtyard.  Her first instinct was to look above and she saw a domed ceiling with octagonal windows making up the dome of the ceiling.  Her gaze turned lower as she saw hanging planets, gentle waterfalls, and formless, but curved pillars that looked kind of like statues.  Pools of water and fountains sprayed water into the air, giving a sense of tranquility.

“Fellow Councilors, may I present, the one who claims to be of the Tau'ri, Dr. Elizabeth Weir,” Orcus announced next to her and she turned around and came face to face with a group of Klisan'thus, all wearing robes of white.

There were at least nine of them, some taller than others, some shorter.  And for the first time she realized that she was at a disadvantage – she could not read any of their facial expressions.  It was one of the things that made her such a great diplomat and negotiator.  She was able to pick up on the subtitles of human emotion ever since she was a young girl.  Her bachelor's and master's degree in social and behavioral psychology helped that before she got her doctorate in political science.

“She looks like one of the inhabitants of this galaxy,” one of the Klisan'thus spoke up, definitely female from the tone of her voice, “yet her clothing is far different than the furs and cloth of the others.”

“I can assure you that I am a Tau'ri,” she cleared her throat slightly and stepped up, ignoring Orcus who had moved to join the other nine, “we have made many advances in the last twelve years since our discovery of the stargate, or the chapp'ai as I am told you call it.”

“Yes,” the same Klisan'thus that had commented on her clothing tilted her orange tabby-colored head, “but you may have discovered that name from any of the Alin'thus' possessions left behind.”

“Not in the Pegasus galaxy, no,” she replied, “but in the Milky Way, yes.  My government discovered  the stargate over eighty years ago along with a set of glyphs that we were able to eventually decipher the glyphs that lead us to Abydos and a couple of years later, the repository of addresses that lead to other stargates around the galaxy and some outside our galaxy including to Othalla and the planet Orilla.”

She looked carefully at the Klisan'thus when she mentioned the homeworld of the Asgard in a completely different galaxy, but saw no discernible expression on their faces.  “We know the Goa'uld were confined to the Milky Way galaxy and thus allied ourselves with many other races, including the Asgard and even the Ancients themselves.”  It was a bit of fudging of the truth, as she knew the Ancients were particularly loose on the term of helping the 'younger races' or interfering in anything that may upset the cosmic balance, according to their rules.  But she knew that the Ancients who had helped them were allies, even though all of them paid the highest cost, including the de-Ascended Daniel Jackson.

“Three years ago, we discovered what was once thought as the lost city of the Ancients, Atlantis in our language, and sent out an expedition to explore the remains.  We hoped to find more power sources we call ZPMs to power the defense chair on Earth against future attacks.”

“Future attacks?”

“When the expedition was sent out, we were fighting a desperate war against Anubis, who became a half-ascended Goa'uld and we were also fighting the Replicators.  We were losing the war on both fronts.  Since then we were able to defeat Anubis and eradicate all Replicators from the Milky Way galaxy, but in our error,” she hoped that by appearing humble, the Klisan'thus would not judge them harshly, “we have awakened the Wraith from hibernation in the Pegasus galaxy and the Ori have made their presence known in our home galaxy.”

“Error?” another Klisan'thus spoke up, his voice rumbling with curiosity.

Elizabeth composed herself, wondering if she was about to receive another lecture like she did with Taethos.  She still did not know which Klisan'thus was telling the truth, Apollo or Taethos.

“We had been looking for alternate sites for our expedition when some of my men were captured by the Wraith.  We rescued them, but we accidentally woke the Wraith,” she did not mention that Atlantis had been on the verge of flooding.  She was still too cautious to mention that Atlantis was still in working condition and not destroyed as the Wraith had once thought.  Though it seemed like a moot point since the Genii and almost all of their trading allies knew that Atlantis was still standing.  However, she dared hope that the Wraith did not figure it out and hoped that the Asurans would not tell them – though she suspected that their mutual hatred of each other assured their silence.

“And yet, you claim that you did not know what the Wraith'gul did,” Orcus spoke up quietly and she turned to him.

“Yes,” she inclined her head slightly, “we didn't know at first until my people were captured by Taethos.  One of his men named Akiesios, contacted us with a plan for their rescue and escape and also gave us the gate address to your homeworld, telling us that this was the only stargate in this cluster of the galaxy.”

“Akiesios is known to us-”

“Yet you referred to him as Apollo in your initial transmission,” Orcus cut through the tabby furred Klisan'thus and an audible growl rumbled through the High Council.

“From what Apollo has said, to show your human forms is equal to a measure of trust and is one of your highest sacraments,” Elizabeth left it at that, hoping that they would take the bait.

There was a moment of silence as all of the Klisan'thus stared at her before the tabby-furred female stepped forward, changing into a human woman dressed in a body armor similar to the one Apollo had been wearing.  She finished transforming as she stepped right up in front of her, almost invading her personal space.  However, Elizabeth knew from experience that some people loved to get up into others faces just to see if they would flinch from the clear invasion of personal space and so she held her ground.

She had to admit, the tabby's feminine form was quite beautiful, with long dark brown hair that hung in loose curls.  However, her brown eyes were hard as stone and her lips a thin line on her face.  She had a slight Euro-Grecian look about her.  “She does not flinch,” the woman said, her voice rich and firm, “a strong one at that, for a civilian.”

Elizabeth stayed quiet as the female walked around her, staring at her before finally stepping away and gave her a smile that did not quite reach her eyes.  “Arileon Apollo is correct in the fact that our greatest sacrament of trust is to show those we consider friends, even allies, our humanoid-forms.  I am Commandant Artemis head of the Agentus,” she introduced herself; “You may call me Atredies when I am in my natural state.”

She nodded and looked around; hoping that the others took it as a sign to perhaps introduce themselves so she wouldn't have to identify them by their fur colorings.  However, no such luck as all of them, save for Orcus, seemed even remotely interested in giving their names, Furling or human.  She turned back to Artemis, feeling a bit awkward and noticed a smirk on her face, a clear sign that she had seen what was attempted and wasn't even hiding her mirth at the failure.

Elizabeth's opinion on the female Furling dropped a few degrees and she wondered if she was being duped.  The way the Furlings questioned her so far and the way Artemis talked...it was almost degrading, as if they saw her as someone lesser to them, almost like a thing barely worth a glance.  But she vowed not to let such negative thoughts cloud her perspective.

“However,” the woman started a bit haughtily, “the Arileon has on more than one occasion been prone to over exaggeration.”

It was then that she realized Artemis knew about the situation on the planet, or at least whatever Apollo had told her.  And it seemed that she did not believe him...  She frowned slightly.  The Furlings definitely knew about the consequences of the Wraith'gul, that much was assured, yet they did not want to do anything about it?  She knew she was missing something very big here, much like she knew she was missing something when talking with Taethos.  There was something about the Furlings that made her uneasy.

But she would give them the benefit of the doubt, “The Wraith'gul is a weapon designed by the Ancients as a last resort.  The scientists on my expedition have discovered that it is this galaxy's equivalent of the Dakara superweapon, capable of wiping all life out so the Wraith would not have any food source and eventually die.”

“Yes,” Artemis' wore an impassive mask.

“You would have Taethos activate it with the chance of wiping all of us out, including yourselves?”

“The weapon's capability does not reach into our space so we would be protected,” Orcus said gravely and she blinked in surprise.

Before they had dialed the address to the Furling homeworld, she had Chuck pull up a map of the Pegasus galaxy and figured out the real reason why the Apollo needed to destroy the Wraith'gul – the position of the Genii homeworld's stargate would amplify the destructive power of the weapon and activate a series of stargates around the area, including the one that lead to the Furling homeworld.  Taethos wanted to make a surgical strike on his own people before continuing whatever plans he had – and she suspected that helping Kolya take over Laden Radim's current government was just a minor step in the plan.  The Furling probably did not even care so much to help Kolya as to keeping the stargate open on the Genii side.

However, there was a 38 minute limit to how long the stargate could be kept open and Elizabeth wanted to use that to her advantage.  She had given standing orders to the military personnel and to the security teams that as soon as 38 minutes were up, they were to dial the M3R-154 to establish a connection before disconnecting to make sure that there was a 38 minute window that she would be able to use to send more soldiers in.  There was no way she was recalling the _Daedalus_ , the time wasted for a round trip was precious if they were going to make this plan work.

“I was under the impression that Arileon Apollo relayed the details of Taethos' plan?”

“Using the chapp'ai to connect to the Genii homeworld, yes, we are aware,” Orcus gestured with a claw to the other members of the High Council, “you must realize that Taethos was once a trusted member of the Agentus.  To hear such accusations leveled against him from an Arileon, and a half-breed at that, is disconcerting.  We have already instructed Arileon Apollo to continue gathering more information before we make our decision.”

This time Elizabeth could not keep the shock from her face and stared at Orcus before looking at the other High Council members.  She realized that they had long made up their mind, even before she had arrived.  “Why...?” she asked quietly.

“We brought you here because of a formality,” Orcus looked at her and this time she could clearly see the dismissive expression on his feline face.  “To pay our respects to the second-born children of the Alin'thus.  You are young, and do not yet understand the war we have been fighting for a long time against both the Asurans and Wraith.  To hear that you were the ones responsible for their mass awakening is both a blessing and a curse.”

“Really?” Elizabeth put as much sarcasm in her tone as possible.  If the Furlings wanted to play hardball, she would do the same.

“The Wraith are numerous, the children of this galaxy less so.  This has lead to civil war amongst the Wraith, a boon to our cause,” the Klisan'thus shrugged in a very human-like gesture.

“And what about the Wraith'gul?” she asked.

“Sujunor Taethos was sent out twenty years ago to find this fabled weapon of the Alin'thus and to utilize it for our efforts in wiping out the Asurans,” Orcus replied slowly, “it would seem that he has discovered it, though his report did not come from his own mouth, but rather from Arileon Apollo.  It is the High Council's belief that Taethos will use this weapon as he sees fit and help out the war effort.”

“Did you know that the weapon requires the gene of the Ancients to operate?” she could not believe what she was hearing from Orcus and it seemed that the rest of the High Council agreed with him.

That stopped the Council as all eyes riveted on her and she let the ghost of a smile appear on her face as she saw that Orcus' eyes narrowed slightly.  “Yes,” she looked at each one of them, her voice hard, “it seems that High Councilor Orcus has kept some information from you from Apollo's report.”

“That is treasonous-”

“Steady yourself, Councilor,” a female Furling with tiger-like stripes running down her fur held a hand up to Orcus who had raised a hand, claws out looking like he was going to slash downwards at her.

“You claim that we are the second-born children of the Ancients.  You know some of us have their genetic makeup.  There is that chance the Wraith'gul will be activated if Taethos has his way,” Elizabeth continued, before pinning her gaze on Artemis still standing in front of her, her expression unreadable.  “You are the Commandant of the Agentus...why wouldn't you believe one of your own men?”

Artemis' gave her a smile full of teeth, “Surely as the leader of your expedition you find yourself trusting someone's word more than another's?”

She knew the Furling was right; more than once she had taken Rodney or even John's decision over others, like Sergeant Bates or even Dr. Cavanaugh and definitely more than once she had ignored Colonel Caldwell's recommendation even though sometimes they were pretty sound.  “I have,” she replied stiffly, “but could you really trust the word of one who has authorized the torture and execution of my own people?”

Silence reigned in the wake of her statement and she looked around at the others.   They weren't going to budge on their decision.  Many of them had been already swayed by Orcus and Artemis' words.  It was as Orcus had said, this was just a formality.  They had no intention of stopping Taethos and were completely in ignorance about the danger the Wraith'gul if the translations from Dr. Jackson and Radek were correct – which she had no doubt that they were since Dr. Jackson was the foremost expert on the Ancient language.

She pursed her lips and clasped her hands together, “Well, if there is nothing further to discuss, I believe I must return and redouble my efforts in saving my people.”

“I will escort you to the chapp'ai,” Artemis inclined her head before turning and bowing to the rest of the Council members who also returned the bow before she gestured for Elizabeth to follow her and started walking towards the spot where she had appeared with Orcus.

A blinding flash of light and whirling sound later, she found herself back in the room and just as she was about to make her way back to the Parthenon-like area, Artemis' hand gripped her shoulder, stopping her.  She stared at the brown-haired woman, wondering what the Furling was up to.

“Please wait, Dr. Weir,” Artemis' use of her proper title and last name startled her and she paused, tilting her head curiously.  She saw her look cautiously out into the hall before back at her.  “You will have your troops, as that is what I believe you came all this way here for.”

“Excuse me but-”

“You have arrived in an ill-fashioned time for my people,” Artemis quickly explained, her beautiful Euro-Greco face pinching with apprehension, “we are in the midst of a power struggle, more so within the High Council, but also amongst the people.  I was there when Arileon Apollo relayed his report to Orcus and know of the details that befall the planet Acheron, where the Wraith'gul is located.”

“Then why all the deception?  Why offer me this?” Elizabeth was too much of a career diplomat to fall so easily to a sudden offer in troops.  It was eerily similar to what the Genii had offered and she knew how that negotiation went the first time.

The Furling woman gave a very human-like sigh, “In my position, I am the head of the Agentus.  They are our most prized forces and are high recognized and praised for their work.  Sujunor Taethos is one of our highest ranking officers, looked up on to perhaps one day succeed High Councilor Orcus' seat on the Council.  There are many citizens and a few Council members who do not believe that he has turned traitor to our people and intends to destroy us.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“Then there are many amongst the Furlings and of the Council who believe the mission given to Arileon Apollo was to keep him out of sight.  I do not know if this is prevalent among the Tau'ri, but the Arileon was considered a troublemaker and the Agentus sent him on his mission just to keep him out of the way.”

Elizabeth could understand where Artemis was coming from, but she knew that there was also something else the Furling wasn't telling her.  “I don't think sending two Agentus members to find the Wraith'gul is worth considering,” she decided to call her out on her statement and was rewarded with a slight narrowing of Artemis' eyes.

The Furling woman stared at her for a second before a crooked smile appeared on her face.  “Unafraid and bold,” she hummed in approval, “the Tau'ri definitely take after their makers.”

“I've been a career diplomat for many years to be intimated with just words,” Elizabeth shrugged.

The crooked grin grew wider, “You are right about sending two Agentus members.  Since our last awakening, there has been dissent amongst some of our people and I personally assigned Apollo to watch over Taethos; to befriend him, to become part of his cadre of followers.  And if he were to discover that the Sujunor was not faithful to our cause, to assassinate him.  However, it seems that with your people's arrival on Acheron, it accelerated his plans.”

“I am making the assumption that Orcus was close to Taethos?” she asked and received a nod before continuing, “and with the lack of evidence binding the two together, it is probably why he is still part of the High Council?”  Her dealings with enough wily politicians who thought they could slip one underneath the dealing table had taught her to pick up on subtle connections during her negotiations.

“Yes,” Artemis nodded, “and my position is precarious enough as it is.  I have the support of the High Council to continue being the Commandant of the Agentus, but if Taethos is allowed to succeed...”

“By activating the Wraith'gul and potentially killing everyone on your planet, you think in the aftermath, if Orcus is still alive, he will install Taethos as the new Commandant of the Agentus.”

“No, Taethos would not kill every Furling on this planet.  We number too many in our solar system to warrant a killing.  He will use the Wraith'gul to specifically kill certain members of the High Council, to get rid of the opposition before Orcus would then hold new elections and appoint a new High Council, one favorable to his agendas,” Artemis shook her head ruefully, “Arileon Apollo did well to inform the High Council and I of Taethos' plans, but he should not have done so with High Councilor Orcus in the room.  He has been away for too long to understand how much the political dynamic of our government has changed.”

There was something in her tone that made Elizabeth pause as they walked down the halls and out into the vast Parthenon.  She realized that Artemis and Apollo had some sort of connection...perhaps lovers?  “You're worried about him, aren't you?”

The female Furling looked up in surprise, before she laughed bitterly.  “He is a good for nothing bastard that is what he is.”

Elizabeth could completely understand where those feelings came from and the corners of her lips twitched up in a smile before she realized another thing.  The way Artemis said _bastard_...  Could it be?

“He's not-”

“He is my half brother,” Artemis gave her a small shrug, “borne from my mother's infidelity with one of your kindred, an Alteran.”

                                    *                      *                      *

 


	9. Manipulation

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

**Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.

**Notes:** We’re nearing the final act of the story!  At this time I would like to thank all of those who have reviewed, put me on favorite lists, C2s, author alerts, and even those who have just read the story for pure enjoyment or curiosity.  Thank you for making my day!  Again, I welcome your comments, criticisms, and questions!

This is a short chapter due to the nature of me wanting to set up for a bigger nail biting ending.  Also, this chapter is a bit…on the bloody side – not quite R rated, but close enough that I need to remind kiddies who read this, there is a reason why my story is rated M (oh yeah, and an f-word that pops up in there).

**Story:**

_Chapter 9 - Manipulation_

 

They trudged through the undergrowth, prodded on none too gently by the bulbous-shaped heads of the _za'kutus_ as John learned from Apollo through their trek.  He kept his eyes on the woodland ground in front of him, fighting internally with his warring emotions of dread, despair, and anger.  Hopelessness was not one of them as he refused to allow himself to completely give up hope that they, or at least what was left of his team, would get out of this god-forsaken mess.

Teyla…

Her body, crumpled against the wall, blood oozing a terrible red out of the blast wound she had received in the stomach; her high-pitched cry of pain when Taethos had fired the bolt into her.  He didn’t even know if she was alive and was afraid that with such a wound, her life was literally bleeding away already.  How long had it been since the sick Furling forced him and Apollo to walk out of the compound and into the woods?  He remembered the despair and echoed cry of denial from Ronon who had pulled against his own restraints, desperately trying to get out of them to see to their wounded team member.

John squeezed his eyes shut for a second, trying to dispel any thoughts of Teyla dead.  He would not allow himself to think that he had failed her, failed one of his teammates again; like how he had failed to rescue his friend Captain Ethan Holland in the mission that eventually got him a court martial, a few months of jail time before his reassignment to the farthest outpost on Earth, McMurdo in Antarctica.

He would never admit it, least to Teyla herself, but every time she had gotten hurt or injured in one of their off-world missions or even in defense of Atlantis herself, he had felt a spike of fear for her safety and well-being.  He knew the feelings he had for her ran deeper than anything, a slow smoldering ember of…lust, love, he couldn’t even identify it himself, but he also knew that slow burning – whatever it was – fueled the implicit trust he had for her.  She was a warrior, strong, loyal, so many things that he could call her and to see her injured, dying even, tore at him and enflamed the anger he held for Taethos.

John opened his eyes as he continued to trudge through the underbrush.  He wanted nothing more than to rip Taethos’ throat out for what he had done to him, to his men, hell, he did not even known if anyone else was alive save for Teyla and Ronon.  Shooting Kolya was a secondary priority as far as he was concerned, but Taethos’ actions had simmered the deep, dark anger within him.  Furling or not, he would be damned if Apollo looked to stop him from making Taethos pay.

The once-diminutive Furling must have felt some of his phantom anger as he caught his eyes and gave a small shake of his head; a very human-like gesture considering he had discovered that they were shapeshifters and their human-like forms weren’t even their real forms.  He snorted silently, looking away as the brush began to thin away and revealed the familiar entrance to the catacombs where the Wraith’gul was located.  He wasn’t stupid enough to risk death by _za’kutus_ or a potential swipe of one of the Furlings’ huge claws.

In the team’s initial visit to M3R-154, Rodney had been so excited about finding this place that he had even ignored his protests about how the place made him feel completely uneasy.  That uneasiness now was amplified once more and he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.  A part of him just wanted to skirt away for reasons that he couldn’t even identify.

As they had been walking to the Wraith’gul he had gotten the gist of what it was from Apollo’s quiet murmurs.  It had been a weapon designed by the Ancients as a last resort – designed to destroy all human life within the Pegasus galaxy, thereby starving the Wraith of their food source.  However, as far as Apollo knew, it had never been used and was left buried under legends when the Ancients departed for their original home galaxy.

“So it is true,” Taethos’ towering form cast a shadow over him as he stepped forward, staring at him from the side with a smile full of sharp teeth, “even one such as yourself, Colonel, feel as skittish as an _ily’ni_ on his first day of taming.  And this proves the translations correctly that one who has the gene of the Alin’thus needs to activate it.”

The Furling turned to Apollo, “Now I see why you have all but avoided this place since we established our base here.”

John frowned and looked at the man, a bit confused.  Was he saying that Apollo had the gene of the Ancients?  But that wasn’t possible, was it?  Apollo was a Furling or so Teyla had said and the man himself had even said he was Akiesios, the short Furling who had treated him when he had first regained consciousness before becoming Kolya’s personal punching bag.

“I will not destroy my own people,” Apollo stood defiantly, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring up at Taethos, “you’ll have to kill me before you force me to operate the Wraith’gul.”

Several of the Furlings growled their displeasure at Apollo’s answer and raised their weapons slightly, but Taethos only laughed, a sinister rumble from deep within his throat.  “So overtly dramatic, you think I am like those parasites the Goa’uld?”

“Why not?!” Apollo uncrossed his arms and clenched his fists, baring his teeth at Taethos, looking a bit eerily like his cat-like form in John’s opinion, even though he was still human.  “Power hungry, deceptive tactics, you dishonor your own kind by deceiving the second-born children!  You plot to overthrow the High Council, you are no better than a Goa’uld.”

John was expecting Taethos to hit Apollo across his face like he had done when they were in the medical ward but surprisingly the menacing Furling only smiled and shook his head.  “Such a child, _Arileon_ ,” Taethos sneered the man’s title, or rank, John couldn’t exactly tell, “I would have thought one such trained as yourself would be more prone to discipline like the good Colonel here.”

“I’ve had disciplinary issues,” John muttered mostly under his breath before a sharp blinding pain raked across his face, and he tasted the coppery metallic liquid of blood pouring into his mouth.  He mostly caught himself on his knees and hands as he fell to the ground, stunned by the blow before he reached up with his right hand and felt four bleeding lines of tenderness down his cheek and jaw line.  He winced as his fingers came in contact with the wound and glared up at Taethos who had a smirk on his feline face.

“No one told you to speak, Colonel,” the Furling replied in a simple tone, as if admonishing a child.

“Fuck you,” John swore at the Furling, bracing himself for another hit that was sure to come as he pressed his palm against the wound, ignoring the stinging needles of pain, but none came as the Furling just chuckled before gesturing to a couple of the guards around him.

John found himself hauled up by his armpits, gritting his teeth as he kept his hand on the wound, knowing that Carson would have a complete meltdown at how much dirt and bacteria he was probably putting into his wound by just keep his dirt-covered hand compressed to staunch the blood flow.  Held fast by the two Furlings whose barely retracted claws dug into his the ragged remnants of his jacket and tac vest, he glared at Taethos, daring him to do anything to him.

His team, his men, had done nothing but examine the Wraith’gul whose purpose was unknown to them at that time, offer trade agreements with the locals and had seemingly the goodwill of everyone involved.  How the hell were they supposed to know that the Furlings would go ape shit over the Wraith’gul?  Taethos had even offered to guide them to it during their initial trip and had even shown them the place.  John now knew better, it had been a trap and a test; the Furling wanted to know if any of them had the gene; which meant he had been notified by Kolya of the Atlantis expedition having several members who had the Ancient gene.

But that still did not explain Apollo’s situation.  From what he could tell and piece together, it seemed like Arileon was probably a military rank, judging from the body armor the man wore, and if he could guess, Apollo was probably on an undercover mission for whoever he worked for and had to blow his own cover to save them.  Except it had failed and now they were both prisoners at Taethos’ mercy.  His frustration and anger grew at the situation.

“Let him go, Taethos,” Apollo grounded out, “let them all go through the chapp’ai and I will do anything you want, including whomever you wish to kill.”

“And let the chapp’ai’s connection die for just that moment it takes for another to activate it?  I think not,” with a wordless gesture, two more Klisan’thus grabbed onto Apollo, the man fighting slightly against their grips.

Taethos slowly shifted to his human form, this time, dressed in almost the exact same body armor Apollo was wearing, but with a few more pips on his shoulders and smiled, making his nearly dissolving cat-like features blending with his human face to produce the most horrific image of a demented, skeletal Cheshire Cat that John knew would haunt his dreams for a long time – if he survived.  He almost did not recognize the village leader that had initially greeted his team dressed in the simple robes of a shepherd aside from his beard and rakish-looking face.

“Besides, there is something I would like to test before I am certain you are no longer needed,” he gestured for the others to continue walking and John found himself frog-marched deeper into the catacombs, the musty cave-like system giving way to the metallic sheen of Ancient design before they came upon the main control room where Rodney had identified it as the heart of the facility.

The room glowed from the still activated panels that Rodney had turned on before all hell broke loose and John could still see scuffed dust and dirt marks where he thought the other scientists had scrambled to put their equipment away.  He was moved to a side as Apollo was brought to stand before the heart of the middle console and Taethos gestured with an outstretched hand before a syringe with some kind of reddish liquid in it was put into his hand.

Taethos gave a quick squirt of the needle before jamming it into Apollo’s arm, the man stiffening as the sadistic Furling dispensed the contents into his blood stream.  As soon as the needle was taken out, the guards holding him stepped back and John frowned.  Seconds later, Apollo shuddered, his jaw clenching in obvious pain and he looked like he was having a seizure, but was still standing upright instead of falling down to the ground.

“What did you-“

Taethos held up a hand and John barely restrained a muffled scream of pain as the he felt more than heard the _snick_ of a set of claws puncturing his left bicep, feeling rivets of blood dripping down his arm.  The claws retracted and he immediately brought his right hand from his face to cover his now deeper wound on his arm.  His breath came in short shallow gasps as he swore not to make a sound, not to give into the sick pleasure he knew the Furling was getting.  But he understood the message loud and clear…

Suddenly Apollo stopped shuddering and instead, lifted his head, almost sluggishly and looked around, his eyes unfocused and staring around him as if he did not recognize anything.  What had Taethos injected into him to make him such a way?

“N-No…” Apollo moaned, staring above him, his voice cracking with unrestrained agony, “A’thar…n-no…no…”

Taethos stepped forward into Apollo’s field of vision and John saw his head loll to stare at him, his eyes unfocused.  “Your father is right here, Apollo,” Taethos’ tone was completely gentle, almost fatherly as he gestured to the platform on the console and John watched, half amazed, half shocked as the seemingly drugged man staggered towards the platform, nearly tripping while stepping up before halting, grabbing the console for support and purchase.

“I…I don’t see him,” Apollo looked around the console wildly, “I...don’t…”

The freakiness of Apollo’s actions was beginning to alarm John just as Taethos gestured with a wide sweep of his arm and the two Furlings that had been restraining Apollo moved forward and grabbed onto him, dragging him from the circular platform.  As soon as they started to pull him away, the man started to buck and yell, screaming in some language that John couldn’t identify.  Two more Furlings joined in helping their comrades drag him off and away, his screams fading slowly away until there was nothing but silence.

And in that silence, John looked towards Taethos who was shaking his head.  “Even a half-breed like him cannot activate the Wraith’gul.  I had hoped for too much,” the man shook his long hair before taking another syringe from the remaining Furling who was holding a small container of sorts and approached him.

“What did you do to him?” John demanded as he saw Taethos squirt a little of the blood-red liquid out of the needlepoint.  He squirmed in the grips of his captors, trying to shy away from what he knew was inevitable, but the throbbing pain in his arm made him unable to twist very far.

“Perhaps you would fare better,” Taethos gave him a congenial smile.

“What did you do to him!” he demanded as he tried to pull his arms away.  Whatever was in that needle, he did not want it in him.

“If not, my men will soon break down the doors and perhaps take Major Lorne, Captain Pearson, or even Dr. McKay into custody,” Taethos ignored him and one of the Furlings wrenched his left arm forward, holding it steady in a vise-like grip.  His brow broke out in sweat as he tried to rip his arm away, tried to stop the needle from plunging into the fabric, through his arm into his muscles-

“Relax, Colonel, this will just hurt a pinch,” Taethos looked at him with glittering dark eyes and depressed the injector.

White-hot fire coursed throughout John and he found himself falling into the darkness once more.

                                    *                      *                      *

It burned, like a hot poker that had jammed itself into her abdomen and had been left there to pour its agonizing heat on her.  The searing pain stitched across her ribs and each movement she tried to make scraped the burnt skin and layers off of her as her tac vest came loose with her movement.  Her lungs screamed with her pained efforts to breathe, but even when she drew breath it was shallow and hesitant.

Her eyes were blurry, even in the dim darkness that had suddenly engulfed the medical ward she was in.  She could barely see in front of her, but nonetheless, she resolutely tried to pull herself across the floor towards the corner of the ward.

“Teyla…” Ronon’s gruff tone called from the darkness and she gave a slightly pained grunt as an answer, gritting her teeth and ignoring the fact that her pants were slick across the ground, slick with her own blood she knew was flowing out of her grievous wound.

“Teyla, don’t move, don’t-“

“I…” she drew in a shallow breath as she continued her long slow trek across the floor, “I…have to…”

There was a rattle from her left as he could hear the frustrations of her friend and fellow warrior being taken out on the bindings that secured him to the palate in the other side of the room.  She heard curses flowing out of his mouth in his native language and smiled inwardly.  Ronon was so protective of those he had come to care for, she knew that for a fact, and she also knew that he would do anything to help any of his teammates and friends right now.

Teyla was aware of the slight feral-like lust the Satedan warrior held for her, the way it was normally expressed in their many sparring sessions.  But she also knew he would never act on those feelings if he could help it.  He respected her too much to act on impulse and she knew that he knew to do so would violate her trust and friendship once more – something they had discussed to great lengths after he had killed Kell on Belka.  She had a feeling Taethos had singled her out ever since she had arrived on M3R-154, noting that Ronon and even Colonel Sheppard would be influenced if any undue harm came to her.

It was a calculating blow from the cunning Furling and it made her wonder how Taethos could figure out what she had only begun to realize over a year ago.  Actually with Colonel Sheppard, it was probably the first time she had met him that she knew there was a mutual, unspoken attraction.  John had acted on his feelings more than once when his mental faculties were not his and she had forgiven him each time, knowing that if she did not, there would a slight awkwardness between them and she cherished his friendship more than she could say.

It was the strength of these two men in her lives, when she had none to lean on until recently that fueled her determination to make sure that they made it out alive.  If she were to die in the process…well, she would not think of that just yet.  John and Ronon, even Dr. McKay for all of his ill-humor and worrisome demeanor, deserved their fighting chance.  They did not deserve the punishment they were receiving for who they were – warriors.

“Teyla…” Ronon’s deep rumbling voice cut across the darkness and she gave a grimacing smile, even though he could not see it.  She could feel the wall now, and pulled herself along its edges.  She was starting to become even more dizzied, her focus wavering a bit and knew that she was loosing a lot of blood.

“I’m…close,” she breathed out quietly as she continued her slow painful trek.  A few seconds later, her right hand, the one pulling her whole body across the ground came in contact with the barrel end of Ronon’s gun and she gathered it into her hand.  Her left hand was pressed against her wound, trying to staunch some of the blood flow, but it had just seeped between her fingers, leaving them sticky.

Taking a couple of quick shallow breaths, she grimaced as she propped herself up with her arm and pushed up on the floor with all of her strength, whimpering slightly as her wound screamed in agony.  She gasped as she felt the searing pain stitch across her ribs and chest once more and coughed, tasting something metallic on her tongue.

“Teyla, don’t-“

“Ronon,” she breathed out before forcing her lungs to obey her and sucked in a deeper breath, suppressing her instinct to cry out in pain, “Ronon!”

“Here,” was the short reply somewhere in front of her, a little to the right, “what are you…”

“I…” she took another deep rattling breath, “have your…w-weapon…”

She gripped it tightly in her hand, and tried to lift her arm, but for some odd reason, her grip just only shook.  It was then that she realized she was losing feeling along her extremities and her teeth were chattering of their own accord.  Fear filled her; she didn’t want to die like this, she didn’t want to die at all.  But…her friends, her teammates…

_Major Lorne, Captain Pearson, and Lieutenant Brown for their courage in protecting her from any harm…_

_Rodney for all of his pessimism and vast knowledge…_

_Elizabeth for her calm intensity, guiding her people…_

_Ronon for his warrior’s strength…_

_John, his multi-layered friendship, the quiet leader she valued so dearly…_

If it was the last thing she did, she would make sure that all of them would survive; all of them would be able to get out of this mess.  Teyla gritted her teeth and forced her arm to respond to her mental commands, to lift up Ronon’s gun, arch her arm back and throw it to where she had heard his voice with all of her might.

“Here!” she cried out before she felt the vestiges of an unfathomable fatigue overtake her and she knew nothing more.

                                    *                      *                      *

Ronon heard the clatter of something land near the foot of the palate he had been attached to and the quiet thump of something hitting the far wall.  “Teyla?” he tested out, gruffly, worriedly.  There was no answer.  “Teyla!” he yelled louder, yet there was no answer before he cursed silently and crouched down onto the ground as much as his binding allowed him to.

She had thrown something to him, and he seriously hoped that it was his gun, but with the darkness and dim lighting, he could barely see anything so he felt around him, straining his arm muscles in an effort to find whatever she threw.  There!  He felt the butt end of the gun near the edge of the foot of the palate and picked it up, hefting its comfortable, familiar weight in his hands.

Twirling it around on his finger and simultaneously activating it, he aimed it towards where he thought the bindings were and fired.  The discharge of the bright red bolt lanced through the air before he suddenly was yanked forward by his own momentum as his binding broke loose and he grinned.

Good he was free, now they could get to work.  He turned and immediately strode to where he thought he had heard Teyla fall down and through the dim lighting, his eyes finally adjusting to the dark; he found her prone body, half lying against the wall, her eyes close and her hands limp.  “Come on,” he muttered as he felt under her chin where Dr. Beckett had taught him some rudimentary medical training to supplement whatever he already knew from his time in the Satedan army.

There was no pulse.

Ronon growled in frustration before he glanced over to the other side of the room, his lips pursed as he quickly thought.  He hoped that whatever Apollo, Akiesios, the damned Furling had done to activate the sarcophagus, which was hell of a lot better than pronouncing the ne’u-thing; it would not be imprinted to his hand print or something.  And he better be right that the thing could bring back the recently dead or else Ronon was going to kill the Furling with his bare hands when he found him.

Gathering Teyla gently in his arms, he hurried over to the far corner and with one hand awkwardly holding her legs, the other cradling her head, pressed against the wall, hoping to find some kind of button that would reveal the sarcophagus.  A few minutes of pressing welled up a roar of frustration in him and he kicked the wall in anger.

Suddenly a panel popped out and Ronon grinned inwardly.  Sometimes kicking things did work, contrary to whatever the Earth-people said not to do, especially the little man, Dr. McKay.  However, the panel was listed in symbols he was not familiar with – not even in the rudimentary curved symbols of the Earth-people, nor the blocky-words of the Ancestors.  No, these symbols looked very hooked yet had a flowing river-like quality he couldn’t describe.

It was probably written in the Furling language, he supposed.  But…

There looked like ten different symbols on the pad and he remembered Apollo translating his own access code into the Earth-people’s language, if they used a base of ten like the Alterans.  Maybe, the Furlings also used a base of ten?   Mathematics wasn’t his strong point that was more Melena’s, which made her a fine doctor before the Wraith destroyed his planet and killed her.

He input the code that Apollo had translated, hoping that he was pressing the right buttons and to his surprise, suddenly the wall slid open to reveal the sarcophagus and he grinned wolfishly.  He hurried towards the golden light, and gently placed Teyla inside, refusing to grieve for her still, ashen face, the ugly wound and blood that had matted most of her body, or the fact that she was not breathing the slightest.

“Live,” he whispered before stepping away from the sarcophagus which started to automatically close, sensing an occupant inside that needed its powers.  Ronon stepped completely outside as the walls closed up and the panel disappeared once more.  He took a moment to whisper a prayer up to the Ancestors to make sure she was brought back alive and safe before spinning on his heel and stalking out.

Taethos had left them alone to have him watch her die before his eyes.  Which meant that he had probably sent the rest of him to break down the control room door holding McKay and the others.  He would get them in due time, but first, he was headed back to the armory room where their weapons had been stored.  There were more than a few za’kutus weapons he had seen in that room.

He was going to slaughter all of them for what they had done.  Ronon Dex was out for blood.

                                    *                      *                      *

 


	10. Aegis

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

**Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.

**Notes:** I wrote this on my Twitter page, but my beta said it would be much suited for his author’s notes so you, the readers, could get a better visual image of certain characters.  When I conceived this story a long time ago, the only actor I specifically had in my head to play one of them was Jamie Bamber of _Battlestar Galactica_.  I’m sure you can guess which character.

            I figure I give you the rest of the cast (guest starring) list:

            **Akiesios/Apollo** – Jamie Bamber (Lee Adama from _Battlestar Galactica_ )

**Atredies/Artemis** – Lena Headley (Queen Gorgo from _300_ , Sarah Conner from _Terminator: SCG_ )

**Logios/Hermes** – Shawn Ashmore (Iceman from _X-Men_ , Jake from _Animorphs_ ),

**Taethos** – the only one I haven’t quite picked out yet (I have an image of Talon Karrde from _Star Wars_ EU, but with more malevolence).  If you guys can think of someone to pull him off, I’m open to suggestions.

 

Also, if any of you see someone else playing any of these roles, feel free to leave them in your review or PM me.  It’s always interesting to hear different takes.

**Story:**

_Chapter 10 – Aegis_

 

“How many minutes left?” Elizabeth glanced over to Chuck who was manning the console, ready to initiate Colonel Carter's speed dial program which had been modified by Rodney during their first few months here.  Radek had made a few more changes to hopefully boost the dialing speed in this round.

“Five minutes, ma'am,” Chuck replied grimly.

She nodded once, “Let me know when there is a minute left.”  She walked out of the operations center and headed down the steps where the small group of at least ten Furlings, plus Atredies herself, were milling about, checking their own equipment along with two more teams of Marines lead by Major Hicks.  She noticed the uneasiness between the two groups, but it seemed like the Atlantis marines were getting used to seeing the Furlings in the gateroom.

Their plan was two-fold.  As soon as they were able to establish a wormhole to M3R-154, the small strike force would go through and establish a perimeter.  She had found out during the time she was gone that they were too slow the first two times.   The _Daedalus_ , standing by in low orbit would beam down its contingent of marines and they would launch their attack on the underground base and rescue their people.  It was risky, but she hoped that by the time they were able to launch, the sensors would have already taken offline, if Apollo's plan was successful, and Taethos wouldn't be able to see the _Daedalus_ coming.

They weren't able to alert Ladon and the Genii about Kolya's invasion, but Elizabeth hoped that the man was smart enough to know what was going on and hopefully defend his own government.  There would be feathers to soothe later on regarding the lack of communication between Atlantis and the Genii, but that was something she would deal with later.  Her people came first.

“Dr. Weir,” Atredies loped up to her, giving her a very feline smile, securing what looked like a wicked looking sword across her back.

“Commandant Atredies,” she replied with a slight nod, “less than five minutes.  Dr. Zelenka thinks that the program should work this time with his modifications.”

The female Furling purred in approval, “Your Dr. Zelenka has done well.  I am rather surprised at the level of technology the Tau'ri has to modify one of the Alin'thus' own Chapp'ai.  My congratulations.”

Elizabeth took the backhanded compliment in stride, “Commandant, I know you probably have your own mission to attend to once we've secured the stargate and make our move towards the compound, but-”

“Rest assured, Doctor,” Atredies tilted her head, “your men, and my own goals will be the same.  Where the Sujunor is, your men will be.”

“I understand,” Elizabeth knew their tenuous alliance was like walking a tightrope at the moment.  She still did not fully trust Atredies/Artemis, but she would give her the benefit of the doubt at the moment.  “But you have to know, if you plan on destroying the Wraith'gul, it’s something that my people would not allow.  We would like to study the weapon and perhaps use it for our war against the Asurans, Wraith, or even the Ori.”

Atredies gave her a smile full of sharp teeth, “We shall see, Dr. Weir.”

“ _Dr. Weir, one minute_ ,” Chuck's voice blared in her radio and she tapped it.

“On my way,” she replied before inclining her head to Atredies, “if you'll excuse me.”

She headed back up to the control room and glanced over to Chuck before noticing Radek coming in again, looking nervous.  Stargate Command had sent over the latest batch of translations and the man had told his team to put everything together while he was working on tweaking the program, but even he was quite nervous.  She gave him what she hoped was a calming smile and all the Czech man did was just adjust his glasses before rubbing his hands together.

So far, they knew that the Wraith'gul had not been activated due to the _Daedalus'_ monitoring of the surface and from the notes provided by the translation team which meant that the gate wasn't constantly active.  It seemed that as soon as the Wraith'gul activated, it would connect permanently connect to an activate stargate, whatever address was currently dialed.  If the stargate was not dialed, then it would default to its regular programming and run a simultaneous dialing program to launch its deadly payload.

“Twenty seconds,” Chuck called out, “nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten-”

“Start dialing now,” she glanced over to the technician sitting next to Chuck, one of the newest members of the expedition who had arrived a little over two weeks ago.  She looked up nervously and she nodded her affirmation of the order.

“Yes ma'am,” Amelia turned back to her station and hit the dialing sequence.

The lights to the Atlantis stargate flashed by quickly, the normal whine of the gate activating sped up to a higher pitch tone, almost to the point where Elizabeth thought she felt her teeth vibrate in her jaw.  She noted out of the corner of her eyes that the rest of the staff were trying to suppress their own grimaces of discomfort at the noise when suddenly, the stargate hit the final seventh symbol and everyone held their breath.

Half a second later the stargate activated with a familiar kawoosh and Elizabeth smiled.  “Strike team, you have a go,” she tapped her radio.

“Let's get our people back!” Major Hicks called out loudly before his team entered the stargate, guns held at the ready.  She watched as the rest of the marines and Klisan'thus disappeared into the wormhole before one of the security teams approached it and placed a small crate halfway into the wormhole, there by ensuring that they would hold this connection for the next thirty-eight minutes.

“Clock has been started,” Chuck called behind her.

She absently nodded, “Sergeant Banks, restart the program.”

“On it ma'am,” Amelia replied.

“What now, Elizabeth?” Radek asked quietly as they watched the open wormhole, waiting for the radio transmission from Major Hicks that would give the okay to the Daedalus to beam down their contingent of marines.  If the stargate was not secured by the end of 38 minutes, then Stargate Command and the IOA said to not send anymore to the planet and declare it a lost cause.  However, she had no intention of leaving her men and women behind and planned to disobey that order, but she hoped it would not come to that.

“Now, we wait,” she clasped her hands together, tapping it nervously on her lips.  It was all up to them now...

                                    *                      *                      *

The thing about hand held explosives, or grenades as Sheppard called them, or even blocks of C4, was that their shape and size was pretty much universal.  Hand held, and designed for disabling, killing or just making a noisy distraction.  He carried such a bandoleer across his chest while both of his hands held two _za'kutus_.  His own gun was holstered by his side, but it would be easy enough for him to drop one of the _za'kutus_ and pick up his own weapon.  The halls outside of the armory and the medical ward had been lit by small glowing panels, emergency lights, but Ronon had hunted well enough in the dark not to be perturbed by the lack of lights.

He would kill them all, for what they had done to Teyla, what they had done to Sheppard, to McKay, to every one that was part of the Atlantis expedition – to his family.  He gripped his weapons tighter.  Teyla would have a hell of a time with these weapons.  They were as long as her bantos sticks that she used to train and fight with.  In his hands, he knew he could deal some serious damage with it.

Ronon paused, peering out of the corner of the hallway, perpendicular to the one he was in.  He counted at least ten Furlings, milling by the door to the control room where McKay and the others were probably holed up inside.  Two were ramming something into the blackened frame of the door while another was fiddling with what looked like a control crystal panel.

Half of the door was cracked open, but it looked like something else was blocking the door.  Good, that meant that McKay, Lorne, and the others had boxed themselves in and were putting up a hell of an effort to not let the Furlings in.  He cracked his neck, making himself loose for the battle before grabbing two of the grenades he had found and activated them before tossing them down the hall.  Seconds later, a huge roar and boom along with a wash of heat passed by him before he activated the _za'kutus_ and stepped into the hallway.

He thumbed the triggers to the shortened staff weapons, watching lancing gold bolts fire rapidly out from the ends, hitting a couple of the stunned Furlings who weren't killed by the initial explosion.  Ronon shimmed to the side as a couple of them fired back, before running forward with a war cry.  He slammed the head of the _za'kutus_ into one Furling who was opening his mouth in a hiss before jamming his right one into the stomach of another and fired, the bolt piercing his skin, frying the dark fur before the Furling hissed and fell over, dead.

However, he wasn't done yet as he brought the weapon back around and slammed it into the head of the Furling he had originally knocked down and broke the creature's face and jaw, spraying oozing black blood across his own chest.  Ronon dropped his weapons and drew out his gun and fired twice at the two remaining Furlings.  Suddenly he nearly tripped as a claw wrapped around his leg and he stared downwards to see a severely injured Furling trying to injure him with a last ditch effort and he sneered down at the blood-matted feline face.

“Too late,” he bared his teeth before firing his gun into the creature's head, splattering it into bloody pieces across the floor and his boot.  He lifted his boot, shaking off the now limp claw and entrails from his boot before stepping over to the battered door.  He whacked his gun against it.  “Little Man, you still alive in there?” he asked, feeling the rush of adrenaline and combat still flowing through him.  That felt good, killing those murderous bastards.

“Ronon, that you?” Lorne's voice came back just as a slightly muffled shout of triumph came from farther in the room.

A split second later, the lights came back on in the facility and Ronon winced at the sudden brightness.

“Yeah,” he replied, glancing down at the blackened, bloody carnage he had inflicted on the Furlings who had been trying to get through the door, “you should see the guys out here, though...”

“Give us a second,” Lorne replied before shouting, “McKay, we good?”

Ronon thought he heard an affirmation from the over zealous scientist, but he couldn't be too sure with all of the debris and closed doors between him and the others.  However, a  few minutes later and some heavy shuffling and banging, the door creaked open and Lorne's weary, but relieved face poked through and stared down at the carnage.

He gave a low whistle and Ronon grinned as he saw the Major's eyes light up with approval.  Lorne was a funny man, he supposed, similar to Sheppard, yet different in his own right.  He liked the man's sense of humor.  “Anger issues?” Lorne asked with a wiry smile as he braced himself against the door and started to push it further open.

Ronon shrugged, moving to help him and together the two of the managed to get the battered door half open, enough for him to step through somewhat comfortably.  He glanced behind Lorne as he shuffled past him to see Pearson and Brown hurrying it up and McKay fiddling with something at the station before sliding out from underneath and grabbing his P90 and tablet computer.

He stepped back as McKay exited the threshold before pausing, his eyes growing wide as he surveyed the carnage before him.  “Holy...what the hell did you do?!  Blow everyone to kingdom come?!”

“Got the job done,” Ronon knew that McKay wouldn't understand why he did it, the man was too much of a soft-civilian, not battle hardened enough like most of the military personnel in Atlantis were.

“And, what's with the Conan look?” the shorter man stared at him and Ronon was confused for a moment before he realized McKay was staring at the bandoleer across his shoulder.

“Grenades,” he gave him a wolfish grin before picking a couple and tossing it to Lorne, Pearson, and Brown.

“The armory?” Lorne asked and he nodded.

“Um, as much as I think that would be nice, but I've just managed to shut down the stargate and it looks like the sensors are telling me,” McKay glanced at his tablet, “we've got some seriously pissed Furlings coming our way soon.”

“We're not going anywhere except back to the medical ward,” Ronon frowned.

“But why?!” McKay looked terrified, “I mean, seriously, that's like in the middle of the compound!  What the hell is in there that makes you want to face off against five million angry cats?  Okay, there aren't five million, but its close enough to that number-”

“Teyla's in the sarcophagus,” Ronon glared at McKay, shutting him immediately.  There was no way he was leaving this facility without Teyla.  Then they would go find Sheppard and they would leave this shithole of a planet.  He had a pretty good feeling that Taethos had probably taken Apollo and Sheppard to the Wraith'gul, but his main concern was to make sure Teyla was alive and to rescue Sheppard.  Apollo could be left behind for all he cared.

“Wait,” Lorne looked at him shocked, “did you say sarcophagus?  As in Goa'uld sarcophagus?”

Ronon shrugged.  He wasn't sure if it was a Goa'uld sarcophagus like Lorne was talking about.  He never really bothered reading any of the mission reports that Sheppard had offered him, and knew that his commanding officer was probably disobeying orders of sorts to even offer him the mission reports themselves.  His only encounter with these...Goa'uld was just a glowing-eyed Colonel Caldwell who had an eerily flanged voice and a somewhat pompous attitude that was soon rectified when Sheppard tased the man.  Then again, Caldwell did have a pompous attitude to begin with in his opinion.

“Well, it explains the staff weapons, shorter ones, explains the language, why not have a Goa'uld sarcophagus,” McKay looked nervous.

“Why not even have Goa'uld here at all,” Lorne muttered before McKay turned a few shades paler.

Ronon looked between the two before turning around and headed back down the hall he had come from.  He heard the others following him, but they did not encounter anyone else when they entered the medical ward.  However, with the lights back on, Ronon nearly froze on the spot at the stark grimness of the tableau before him.  He saw the puddle of blood where Teyla had initially been shot and the puddle of blood in the far corner where she had found his gun.  In between that were reddish-brown streaks across the floor where she had made her slow, painful trek across to ensure his freedom.

However, he forced himself to continue walking to the far corner where he knew the sarcophagus was hidden and frowned.  Kicking the wall in the dark was so much easier...with the room lit up; the wall just looked completely blank.

“Ronon?” Lorne prodded him.

“It's somewhere here,” he poked parts of the wall, trying to remember where the damned Furling had touched on the wall to reveal the sarcophagus.

“Um...try there,” McKay pointed a finger at a part of the wall above where he was touching and he glanced at the smaller man who was looking back down at his tablet.

He shrugged and touched the area indicated and suddenly a panel popped out, reveal the same keypad he had input in to reveal the hidden compartment.  “Not bad,” he murmured before punching in the corresponding numbers.  He smiled grimly as the wall hissed open and revealed the golden sarcophagus, a really gaudy object in his opinion, but nonetheless, he hope it had successfully revived Teyla.

He heard Lorne and the others raise their weapons, pointed at the sarcophagus as it slowly opened with a quiet hiss and Ronon peered inside.  Teyla looked exactly as he had left her, except the ragged hole where she had been injured was now replaced with the warm golden skin tones of newly recreated flesh and skin.  “Teyla?” he asked gruffly to her still prone form.  He didn't want to reach in and check her pulse in case something was going on within those bright rays of lights in the sarcophagus.

“No kidding, a real sarcophagus,” Pearson whispered behind him.

Suddenly Teyla started, her eyes blinking open before she sat up abruptly, gasping.  Ronon moved back a bit, letting her adjust to her surroundings before she looked down at her wound and then looked towards them.  “You...put me in there?”

Ronon shrugged, fighting a smile as he was glad that she was alive and healthy once more.  “Got me freed, had to do something for you.”

She smiled gratefully at him before he reached out and helped her out of the sarcophagus.  Holding onto her hand just a little longer, he made sure she was steady on her feet before releasing her hand and she gave him a small smile.  Turning to Lorne and the others she tilted her head in acknowledgement.  “Major Lorne, Rodney, Captain Pearson, Lieutenant Brown, it is good to see all of you well.”

“Ma'am,” Lorne grinned, easy going as the sarcophagus, sensing no other occupant started to retreat back into its hidden compartment and closed with another quiet hiss.  “You okay?”

“I have never felt better, Major,” she nodded.

“Good, we're heading back to the armory before we go get the Colonel-”

“Oh no...”

“What now McKay?” Lorne held the look of a long sufferer.  Ronon secretly sympathized with him; even he didn't want anymore bad news.

“The stargate just re-activated,” McKay looked stricken.

“Can't you turn it off?” Pearson broke into their conversation, annoyed.

“No, I need to...wait,” the Little Man made a few adjustments to his tablet, “it's an incoming wormhole and...huh...”

“Rodney...” the corner of Ronon's lips quirked up in a grin when even Teyla sounded a bit annoyed.

“All those Furlings, I think they're headed back to the gate...and they're dropping like flies!”

“What?!” Lorne took the tablet out of McKay's hands and stared at it.  Ronon peered over his head to see indeed some of the yellow dots winking out by the layout of the land where the stargate was.  “That's Atlantis, it has to be!” the Major sounded excited as numerous blue dots came pouring through the stargate and suddenly a bunch of blue dots appeared in the middle of a perimeter around the stargate.

“So what now?” Ronon asked as Lorne handed the tablet back to McKay.

“Armory and then we're going to the Wraith'gul.  Since Atlantis is setting up a perimeter, we'll get the Colonel and Apollo and get the hell out of here.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ronon let the feral grin work its way up his face as they headed out of the medical ward and towards the armory.

                                    *                      *                      *

Apollo paused, resting a hand on the thick bark of a tree as he squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on breathing.

“Arileon?” the voice of his companion Logios was like a distant murmur to his mind, but he cracked a bleary eye open to stare at the smoke-colored Klisan'thus.  Hermes was his human-formed name, but to Apollo, Logios was a god-send at the moment.  He had revealed himself to be a hidden agent of the Agentus, personally sent by Commandant Atredies herself to be his support system if he decided to take action.  Even he did not know about Logios' existence until the fellow Klisan'thus had saved his life and killed the other guards before injecting him with the antidote to the blood-hallucinogen that had been injected in him.

“I'm fine,” he wheezed out, “the antidote is still running through my system.”  According to everything he had read about the blood-hallucinogen, aptly nicknamed by the Goa'uld as the Blood of Sokar, since he had been injected directly instead of ingesting it through his mouth, it would take a while to get over its effects if an antidote was administered.

During his time under its dreadful effects, he had been seeing the death of his father by shadowy assailants who had attacked their home long ago.  He saw his father die defending his home and extended family from their attackers before his assailants had kidnapped him.

Apollo did not remember most of his time in captivity, having been a very young Klisan'thus back then, but he remembered the funeral held for his father.  How only a handful of Furlings made their presence known, yet he remembered a few of the Alin'thus attending it.  He had blamed himself for allowing his father to die for him, blamed himself for not being strong enough to fight back against his captors...

He knew now, why there were so little people at his father's funeral.  Why even his own mother refused to attend it.  It was because the Klisan'thus saw him as a lowly half-breed, not worthy of attention.  He had long suspected it was renegade Klisan'thus who had attacked and killed his father and kidnapped him in an effort to keep the race pure, but there had been no proof.  Soon after, his mother had taken him into custody and forbade anyone from making comments about his own heritage and her order was obeyed because she had been part of the High Council back then.

However, it did not stop the subtle discrimination he had encountered when he had applied for his apprenticeships and eventually decided to join the one place that would even think to accept him, the Agentus.  Members of the Agentus, the Agenti, were often called suicide-runners because even though they did the High Council's bidding, their missions were often times, fatal ones.  By then, Apollo was cynical enough to recognize that it was the only place he could feel somewhat at home, and it was not because his older half-sister Atredies was their Commandant.

He squeezed his eyes shut once more and shook his head roughly, before running a hand through his hair and pushed off from the tree.  He looked at Logios, “If what you said is true about the Chapp'ai sending more reinforcements from the Tau'ri, it would be prudent for you to change to your human form.”  Logios had mentioned the radio chatter from Taethos' men stationed by the Chapp'ai that it had been activated some time ago.

“We won't blend in as easily if Taethos' forces are about,” Logios was only ranked a Teino, two ranks below him, and a recent addition to the Agentus, but Apollo knew that he would not have been sent on this mission if Atredies had not seen something in the young Klisan'thus that would be an asset when the time came.

“We won't be shot by the Tau'ri,” he countered before stalking forward, headed towards the Chapp'ai.  As much as he wanted to go back and rescue Colonel Sheppard, he knew that he needed weapons first to shoot all of the other Klisan'thus before tackling Taethos himself.  And going back into the compound was not an option as finding his way to the armory would take more time than heading quickly back to the Chapp'ai and perhaps procuring some weapons.

It was his hope that the others survived, but considering that Logios was reporting an incoming wormhole instead of a continuous outgoing one, that meant Dr. McKay had figured out how to disable the Chapp'ai and was probably still alive.

“How do we know that these Tau'ri won't shoot us on sight?” Logios' voice lost its guttural quality and he turned slightly to see him in his human form, a lanky, youthful dark-haired young man dressed in the Agentus body armor and surprisingly a pair of very human-looking glasses on his face.  Youth and its rebellious ways, he supposed, turning back around and continuing tromping a path through the rough brush, ever wary of any Klisan'thus nearby.

“I communicated with Dr. Weir of the Atlantis expedition.  I would hope that her people would recognize my face and not shoot us,” it was a weak explanation, but the only one he could come up with to try to reassure the young Teino.

“Really?” Hermes sounded excited.

“The Tau'ri have come along way since we departed their home galaxy,” he shrugged, “they apparently have space-faring warships.”

“And only projectile weapons?  That is quite odd,” the young Klisan'thus sounded puzzled.

“I believe they had contacted the Serin'thus for assistance with their ships,” Apollo didn't quite know the details, but when he had seen Hermiod, it had been quite a shock and it made some sense, especially regarding their beaming technology.  He suddenly stopped, holding up a hand, making Hermes pause.  He narrowed his eyes, looking around him.  There was something that seemed...off...

He wished his human form was more advanced, able to sniff out anything that didn't seem right.  He was about to tell Hermes to change back to his natural form when suddenly a blast from a _za'kutus_ lanced out from nowhere and hit the young soldier on the side, sending him spinning to the ground.  Apollo cursed and ducked, seeing a quick ripple in the air where the blast came from before diving to the side.

A _za'kutus_ blast hit the tree trunk where he used to be and he scrambled to Hermes' side.  The young soldier was lying awkwardly on the ground, his face screwed up in a grimace of pain as he held his bleeding wound.  Apollo cursed as he grabbed the leftover medical kit that Hermes had been carrying with him and pulled out the gauzes.  The blast had turned the edges of his skin black and burnt and little wisps of acrid smelling smoke were coming from the wound.  Black blood seeped out and though he was trained primarily as an infiltrator, his twenty years being Taethos' group physician told him that the wound was serious and deep.  He pulled out another small black bag of the white paste that was a healing compound he had found on this planet and scooped a good amount out.

“S-Sir...” Hermes' was almost hyperventilating and was staring at him with frightened eyes.  He realized that this was probably the young Furling's first mission...and wondered why did the Agentus assign someone with so little experience on a mission like this?  Could they not spare the resources?!

“You're going to be okay,” he smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner, “this is going to hurt a little, but it should help control the bleeding.”  With that, he put the whitish paste on and heard the hiss of pain from Hermes, but the young soldier did not cry out, and instead bit his human lips in an effort to contain the pain.

Apollo shook his head slightly as another wave of lingering dizziness swept over him before he quickly spread the paste over the gaping burning wound.  He was still not quite over the hallucinogenic drugs' effects and he saw his vision blur slightly before he forced his eyes to work with him.  He spread the last of the paste and reached over to start bandaging the wound with the gauze when he felt something cold and metal lean against the back of his head just as Hermes' eyes widened in fear as he stared past his shoulder.

He raised his hands away from his body.  “I am unarmed, treating a wounded man.”

“Get up, traitor,” the snarling command was enforced with the push of the cool metal of the _za'kutus_ leaning against his head.

“Let me finish-”

“Get up!”

Apollo stood up slowly in stony silence, glancing down at Hermes who looked like he wanted to do something again and shook his head almost imperceptibly.  He knew that the Furling was well versed in speed-kills, judging by the way he saw, or at least thought he saw him kill the three other Klisan'thus who had dragged him out to be executed.  But right now, the young soldier was wounded and in no condition to do anything with his skills, much less shapeshift.  For one, shapeshifting when severely wounded put an incredible strain on the body and did not heal wounds.  At times it was used as a last resort, but even then, the risk for pulmonary failure was great.

As he stood up, he saw the shimmers of four other Klisan'thus materializing near them, all training their weapons on him and Hermes.  Suddenly the sounds of machine gun fire rattled the air and one of the Klisan'thus further away from them pitched forward, gurgling a rapid death and Apollo leapt into action.

He twisted around and quickly grabbed the bulbous end of the _za'kutus_ and pulled, getting a handle on a smoother part as more gunfire filled the air.  The Klisan'thus that had been holding the weapon bared its teeth at him and tried to yank his weapon back, but he held on.  Apollo knew he was at a terrible disadvantage and nearly yelped in pain as he felt his end heat up before the high pitched whine of a discharge of a bolt ripped past his ear, singeing the hairs on his head.  He held on though, knowing that he was outmatched in strength and height, but to let go would ensure his own death.

He heard gunfire behind him along with _za'kutus_ blasts, but kept his concentration the warrior in front of him.  He couldn't afford to pay attention to anything else and seriously hoped that no stray _za'kutus_ blasts hit him.  Grimacing, he felt himself pulled forward some more as the Klisan'thus leered angrily at him before lifting an arm to swipe his black claws down on his face to take his head off.

Glaring up at the set of claws, Apollo suddenly pushed against the loosened grip on the _za'kutus_ and drove the smaller end into the Klisan'thus' stomach, startling him and making him fold over slightly – just as he suddenly arced his back as two _za'kutus_ blasts impacted his back and the Klisan'thus suddenly fell over, dead.  Apollo looked beyond the fallen body to see the last thing he thought he would see...

“Artemis?!”

                                    *                      *                      *

He had quickly finished the dressing on Hermes' wound before a couple of the Atlantis medical personnel hurried to the young soldier's side and placed him in a stretcher to take back to the stargate before being transported to Atlantis herself.  Now, Apollo stared at the black blood on his hands, his vision still a bit blurry, but otherwise a lot better than ten minutes ago when he had been fighting for his life.

He had been through countless of missions, all with more blood than the streaks on his hands, but somehow, he felt more shaken with this mission than ever before.  In the span of less than three days, he had found his whole life and purpose turned upside down.  Much faster than many of his other missions – and he knew that the main cause was with the Tau'ri who had come through.  They had changed so many things in such short time...

“You keep your human form, Arileon,” her cultured tone made him turn around and stiffen before saluting, right palm to the middle of his chest.  In his natural form, it was where their hearts were.

“Commandant,” he greeted with a slight bow of his head before she saluted back and waved him to an at ease position.  Around them, both human-formed Klisan'thus and the Tau'ri from Atlantis, lead by a Major Anthony Hicks, and troops from Colonel Caldwell's _Daedalus_ , lead by Captain Erin Eckleston were about, cleaning up remnant patrols and most of them headed to the compound to find Major Lorne and his men.

“Status?” she asked her tone impatient.  Apollo did not say anything about her still lingering in her human form.

“I need a unit to accompany me,” he glanced back to see her small strike force and was surprised to see that not all of them were Agentus members.  At least more than three-quarters of them strike team wore the body armor in the colors of the _Raer'ar_.  He briefly wondered if these men and women were part of Diana's command, on loan to her twin sister Artemis.

If they were, he would be even more surprised considering that his other half-sister hated him with an unrestrained passion and would rather see him dead than help him in any way.  It was one of the many reasons he had joined the Agentus instead of taking a civilian job or be part of the _Gry'ar_ or _Raer'ar_.

“I shall go-”

“This is still my mission, Commandant,” Apollo knew Artemis wanted nothing more than to see him fail, to have an excuse to take his command away and humiliate him.  He would not let that happen while he was still breathing.

She looked at him, somehow managing to see eye-level to him even though he was a head taller than her.  Apollo met her stare evenly, refusing to bow down to her wishes or commands.  She was technically his superior, but yet the unspoken rule within the Agentus was that to each their own mission.  If one decided to help another, then they became subordinates to the mission commander.

Suddenly the ground rumbled a bit and Apollo narrowed his eyes, staring towards the woods.  That rumble...it felt like...

“Oh no,” he whispered as he realized what was happening.  He pointed at two unit leaders, “You, and you!  Form up!  The rest of you, scour the woods.  Finish the remnants, no prisoners.  Help in the compound and if you find a Dr. McKay, send him to the Wraith'gul.”

He grabbed a _za'kutus_ just as Artemis stopped him with an arm, her brows in a frown, “What's going on?”

“The Wraith'gul, it's being activated,” he replied, a cold feeling in his gut.  That meant Colonel Sheppard had been successfully manipulated into activating the thing that would kill them all before killing his own people.  He tapped a radio that linked the Klisan'thus strike force and the Tau'ri from Atlantis and _Daedalus_ together, “Colonel Caldwell.”

“Online, good to hear your voice, Arileon,” Caldwell replied.

“If the Chapp'ai activates and my men are not able to shut it off on time, I need you beam everyone aboard your ship and destroy the Chapp'ai.”

“We don't-”

“Hermiod has told me of your naquadah-enhanced nuclear warheads.  One should be able to bury the Chapp'ai forever,” he replied grimly.

Silence reigned on the end as he collected a tac vest handed to him by one of the Atlantis crew and slipped it on before securing it and started back to the Wraith'gul.  “Understood, good luck,” Caldwell finally replied before he touched the radio again and terminated the link.

“Let's move!” he called, barely noticing his half-sister following behind him, a grim smile on her face.  He needed to stop Sheppard, needed to stop Taethos...needed to make sure that he saved the right people this time.  He would not fail.

                                    *                      *                      *

 


	11. Hallucination

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

**Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.

**Notes:** Sheppard’s hallucination is very fluid and motion like.  For a good frame of reference, see SG-1 Season 3’s “ _The Devil You Know_.”  Fans of SG-1 may be very familiar to the Blood of Sokar (and its more potent cousin running through the poor Colonel’s system at the moment) and the memory device used in tandem to torture SG-1.  This is my Atlantis tribute to that excellent episode.  One more chapter to go!

 

**Story:**

_Chapter 11 – Hallucination_

 

John thought the candles were a nice touch, their flickering flame dancing in the darkness, illuminating and casting shadows so random of a pattern that he thought McKay would probably have an aneurysm trying to figure out a pattern.  That was a beauty of fire and oxygen consumption – there was no singular pattern.  Random as the universe itself…

Well, aside from the usual Wraith attacks and the probability of Asuran attacks now that they had managed to piss of one of the most advance civilizations in this galaxy that even the Wraith wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.  Did they even have ten foot poles, he wondered.  He could imagine something of the sort, perhaps long, squishy, slimy, all kinds of disgusting and would probably want to squish it with a finger of sorts before really grabbing onto it to poke something.

Come to think of it, why did everything in this galaxy had something squishy related?  Even the Ancients had their own squishy thing, especially with some of the Puddle Jumper’s controls, the Drone Chair…  Okay, not everything in Atlantis herself or even remotely Ancient was squishy, but it was still some kind of level of squishiness.  The Wraith just took it a few steps too much, organic tech, really, really slimy labs, prison cells…  Sometimes, he caught himself thinking that the Wraith were like the Borg from _Star Trek_ , or even the Shadows from _Babylon_ _5_.

McKay had scoffed at the idea when he had mentioned it randomly to him, muttering something about how _Star Trek_ writers couldn’t write techno-babble without it being blown up the next episode, but surprisingly complimented at least the creator of _Babylon_ _5_ had the decency to consult with NASA at the time.  John had stared at his friend with a new found sense of respect for him for the rest of the day, who knew that their resident pessimist enjoyed some science fiction shows.  But that feeling was killed when something in the East pier blew up once more, sending McKay back into his endless spiral of pessimism and how they were all going to die.

Some things in life could be predicted, McKay for one, and some things, like this little flame on a candle, danced its random dance.  The corners of his lips twitched up in a smile at the thoughtful beauty of it.

“You’re not even listening to me, are you John?” her voice snapped him out of his thoughts and his eyes slid from the candle to her cream-colored face.

There were accents of rosy blush on her cheekbones, a bit of bronzer and dark eyeliner.  He thought he saw the part where her hand had shook just a little, breaking a slight line of the eyeliner across her eyes.  Her lips, however, were their natural color, absent of any lipstick she wore since they had sat down to dinner at _L.A. Prime_ , a fairly expensive steakhouse on the thirty-fifth floor of The Westin in Los Angeles.

It had been eight days since he was granted leave and he had six days left.  He had already received orders for his next posting and had requested leave before going on his mission.  He wanted to at least see Nancy before leaving again.  So they made most of their limited time and he had spent the past eight days helping around the house, cleaning it up as best as he could, seeing a couple of old friends, and generally trying to enjoy his leave, but it had been hard.  For one thing, Nancy was constantly working in Governor’s office in San Francisco, heading a new initiative for the California Department of Homeland Security and thus was rarely home.

On the days that she did get home there were strained talks between the two of them.  That had blown into an all-out shouting match between the two of them just two days ago, him accusing her of not even taking the time to spend with him, her accusing him of keeping so many secrets, even about his latest mission which had been deemed Top Secret.

He had left the house in a fit of anger, driving down the six hours to Los Angeles to crash with one of his friends for the night.  The next day, he had tried to make amends with her and offered a night out in Los Angeles with dinner included.  He did not want to leave for this upcoming mission with such anger in his heart…especially since he had a nasty feeling about his latest posting to Afghanistan.

He had been pleasantly surprised when she had accepted and had taken the day off to join him.  They now sat in the dimly lit restaurant, the skyline of the city spread out before them with their window seats.

“I’m listening,” he replied, “just…”

“You were staring at the woman behind me for the past ten minutes,” Nancy frowned.

“No,” John quickly realized that where the candle’s flame danced was in fact in the line of sight of a very beautiful, voluptuous, and leggy-blonde hair woman.  Probably an up and coming actress he realized, judging by how much makeup and sexed up of an outfit she wore.  Oops.  “I was staring…” he trailed off, gesturing to the candle when he realized, that no matter what, his wife was going to see it as a lame excuse.  He sighed and rubbed his chin, feeling the day-old stubble rough against his palm.  “Never mind, you wouldn’t even buy it…”

“Really?” Nancy looked at him; an eyebrow rose skeptically, “is that how little you think of me John?”

“No,” he shook his head, “no, I don’t-  It’s just that…well…look I don’t want to turn it into an issue today, okay?  Can’t we just eat, chit chat, you know, talk in peace?  Like a date?”

She looked down at her half-empty plate and snorted bitterly, “I think we’re long past that.”

John winced, knowing how right she was and it hurt.  However, it was another dull hurt in his heart.  He loved her, no question about that, but in the past couple of years, they had been fighting, so much…little spats, and sometimes full blown arguments.  Neither one of them compromising with the other.  Most of the time, it ended with him walking away from the argument, to let the bitter anger simmer and fester like an infected wound until the next thing flared it up angrily.

“Listen,” she looked up at him and he met her gaze squarely, “there’s a reason why I came here today…”

“Not because of my charming good looks?” he tried, the joke falling limply at the sad shake of her head.

She gathered her pocketbook and pulled out a fat white envelope and immediately John felt his world plummet.  “Those aren’t…what I think they are, are they?”

She smiled timidly at him, a sad heartbroken smile and nodded, pushing the envelope across the table.  “I’m sorry…”

He tentatively picked it up, his dinner long forgotten as he picked at it and hefted it in his hands.  “No, you’re not,” he finally replied after a long while, staring at the stark whiteness which seemed unusually bright even in the dim darkness.  Must be trick of the candlelight he mused silently to himself.  “Divorce papers…”

“I’m…sorry, I…didn’t want to do this on your leave, but-“

“Don’t,” he found that his own voice had gotten hard, cold, trying to bury the stabbing pain of betrayal in his heart.  She wanted a divorce from him…she didn’t love him anymore…she…

“I still love you,” her voice broke at the word and he looked up from the stark whiteness and saw a couple of tears fall down her face, staining her bronzer and blush.  He wanted to believe her words that she still did love him, and maybe she did, but it wasn’t the full blown passion that they had for each other five years ago.  No…she may still love him, but she did not _love_ him.

He stared down at the envelope in his hands.  He thought it would work for a time, thought that she would be loving and supportive.  They had been so in love, a whirlwind romance many of his friends had called it.  He had been so happy then, finally finding his anchor and even one that his father had approved to his surprise.  His surprise had been furthered when his father made an unannounced appearance at their wedding, though he had left immediately afterwards.

“…John…John?” her voice was so distant that it took an effort for him to pull himself away from his thoughts once more and he looked up and suddenly sat up in surprise.

What had been the dim restaurant was now the dim darkness of Atlantis, more specifically on mess hall’s balcony overlooking the East pier.  He blinked owlishly, looking around, a bit bewildered.

“John, are you all right?” Teyla’s warm and concerned voice along with her hand pressing into his made him focus his gaze on her face and he looked down at his hands to see them empty, the envelope gone.

“Uh…yeah, sure,” he replied, “just…daydreaming.”

“I believe it is night,” Teyla replied dryly before her expression turned a bit more serious, “so have you given Elizabeth’s proposal some thought?”

“Erm, what proposal,” John hated when he felt out of the loop and he strived to pay attention, but even he was confused by Teyla’s question.

“The one to save Lieutenant Ford?” she looked appalled at him, “you are the one who first brought up the proposal when we found his signal.”

“Signal?” John was getting even more confused.  Wasn’t he on a different-?

“John!” Teyla’s brows furrowed as she said his name sharply, “I cannot believe you would forget the signal we found on M3R-154?  The signal along with the Wraith bodies all with the enzyme cut from their bodies?”

“Oh, yeah, that,” he decided to humor her if not to calm her down, “I’m sorry…just a lot of things on my mind.”

She nodded, squeezing his hand gently before rising from the table, “I understand.  You should talk to Elizabeth to finalize the plan before we head back to the planet.”

He nodded and expected her to release his hand like she always did; but instead, she drew it closer to her before she suddenly leaned down and kissed him fully on the lips.  His eyebrows rose in surprise as he stared at her for a second then the warmth and gentleness of her kiss made him instinctively close his eyes and savor the moment.  She tasted like simple honey, not too sweet, yet surprisingly aromatic.

There was no working of lips or the need to deepen it, but just the simple taste of her lips on his.  However, it had startled deep within him, the feelings he had buried for so long, the gnawing hunger, the ache, unfettered passion that had been unleashed once when he had not been himself.  Pinning her to the wall, bruising her lips with his own, he had been so alive back then, so free; he could do anything he wanted, get anything he wanted.  And he wanted her, all to himself, wanted her badly that he had thought those simple sticks she played with were just mere toys.

He would take her; fuck her until neither of them could feel a single thing anymore, their union complete.  He could do that, right now, he rationalized.  After all, she was the one who initiated the simple kiss, the little hints of innocence washed away, all doubts, everything-

_Whoa there…_

John forced his own eyes to open and pushed his chair back, the screeching sound even loud to his ears, breaking contact from Teyla.  His chair halted against the railing and he gasped, breathing the cool oceanic-Lantean air, trying to calm his raging hormones, his racing thoughts.  This was Teyla…this was-

Honey sweet kisses, her golden-cinnamon hair.  The way she had looked at him-

He stared up at her, noting a neutral expression on her face, the slight disappointment in her eyes.  Had she wanted him to…?

No, this wasn’t right, he realized.  Teyla would never…she was strong willed, courageous, and a damn good fighter.  She was a leader, a compassionate woman, and most definitely in control of herself at all times.  She would never, ever, allow herself to be used this way, to even think of kissing him.

But good God, she could kiss…and he swore he could feel her passion behind it-

_This is Teyla we’re talking about_ , he rationalized as he stared at her warily, his own breaths calming down somewhat.  As far as he remembered, Teyla would never compromise the uneasy boundary between them.  She would never allow herself to lose such a control on her emotions.

He looked down and rubbed his eyes tiredly.  “Listen, Teyla, I think we-“

“Colonel, I believe I do not look like Teyla,” Elizabeth’s sharp rebuking tone startled him and he looked up, shocked as he found himself now sitting in the familiar green-blue hues of Elizabeth’s office.  He instinctively sat up straighter as he looked around and saw a very pronounced frown on Elizabeth’s face.  She was angry about something…at him?  About him?  About the mission?

“I, uh,” for the first time John was at a loss for words, “I’m sorry Elizabeth.  I didn’t-“

“I believe it is proper for the military commander to refer to his expedition leader as Dr. Weir, not Elizabeth?” her lips thinned into a pencil-thin line, “especially since you are now responsible for the loss of over twenty of your own men, including your second-in-command, Major Lorne.”

“I-I’m sorry?” now John felt really out of the loop.

“Colonel!” she shouted, banging her hands on her desk, making him jump involuntarily before he scrambled out of his seat and stood ramrod straight.  If he had lost Lorne, twenty of his men, why the hell had he been sitting down?!  “I will excuse your need to sit down and sort your feelings, but I will not excuse your denial of events!”

John opened his mouth to say something, anything to protest her harsh words, but nothing came out.  He stared at her, his face uncomprehending, “Honest I swear, Eliz-Dr. Weir, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

She gave him a steely look, “I have the bodies of all of those who died under your reckless plan to save them from M3R-154 in the infirmary.  Some are whole, others, are without heads.  What do you have to say to that?”

“But Teyla said that Ford-“

“Obviously, Lieutenant Ford tricked you into thinking that he was on the planet,” her voice dripped with uncontained sarcasm and he fidgeted slightly, “you have been deluding yourself for far too long Colonel, thinking that you can save Aiden from himself and from the Wraith enzyme.”

He snapped his head up at her words and took a half step forward, “I can save him.  I haven’t given up on him yet!”

“At the expense of your men?  What am I going to tell Stargate Command, hmm?  Should I tell them that you ordered all of them on a wild goose chase, tell them that you had completely lost your mind pursuing a mindless goal?!” Elizabeth gestured to a stack of a papers on her desk, “Look at them, Colonel!  These are the death certificates I have to sign off on!  These are the papers that will go home to their families because these bodies cannot go back!  Not after what they’ve been through!”

She leaned forward and stared at him, anger evident in her eyes, “You failed, Colonel.  Just like you failed Colonel Sumner.”

“W-What…?” John reeled, taken aback at the harshness of her tone, the fury in her eyes.  Elizabeth had always been a constant source of comfort, even though he did not voice his feelings to her on missions that had gone south.  But the first time after he had returned to Atlantis following the rescue of the Athosians and his men from the Wraith, she had been there, lending a supporting shoulder.  It was soon after their initial party to welcome a new alliance and settle into Atlantis as their new home that he had found himself in her office, neither of them saying much, just drinking some tea, and enjoying each other’s company.

He had shown her the dog tags then, the ones he had taken off of Sumner and told her to hold on to them so she can return them to his family.  Instead, she had shaken her head and said that they were his to keep, reminding himself not of his failures and the fact that he had mercy killed his commanding officer, but that it was his salvation and hope.  That he would realize the difference he was making day by day.

That was his first hint and sign that he thought he could allow himself to maybe, just maybe, have some more-than-friendly feelings for her.  Of course, he knew that she had a fiancé back on Earth so he did not make anymore gestures towards her, but that did not stop their blossoming friendship – even though they more than often butted heads.

So to hear such unforgiving words out of her mouth shocked him to the core.

“You failed him, you failed Lieutenant Ford, you failed everyone, Colonel,” her voice was soft, but frozen.  She slowly drew herself to her full height and crossed her arms across her chest.  “I’m sorry Colonel, but as of this moment, you are relieved of your command.  Stargate Command and the IOA are expecting your immediate departure back to Earth where you will be charged for the deaths of your men…”

Her voice faded from his ears as he stared at no particular spot on her table, the eerily silent void of incomprehension filling him up.  It was like hearing white noises all of the sudden.  A court martial, his command taken away…probably a demotion along with a dishonorable discharge from the Air Force.  He couldn’t believe it…he had been contemplating contacting his father for a while now, ever since he had received his promotion to Lt. Colonel – to prove to him that he wasn’t a rebellious son and that he had made his way in the world.  But now, with so many deaths, the blood that wouldn’t come off of his hands.

He lifted his hands and thought he could see the blood on them.  Oh God, Teyla, did she know this was going to happen?  That the night that seemed so clear in his mind, her gentle soft kiss…had she been trying to give him one last comfort before the mission?

He blinked, as he stared at his hands.  He remembered her, lying on the ground, bleeding heavily from the wound.  He couldn’t do anything then, he had been helpless as the light faded from her eyes, the whisper of his name on her lips before she passed away.  She had died in his arms and he had not been able to do anything.  She had been one of the many lost under his own command, his own incompetence.  His own laziness.  He shouldn’t have agreed to Elizabeth’s proposal of joining the Atlantis Expedition, nor should he have been badgered by General O’Neill during that fateful helicopter ride back to McMurdo.

He had been a menace to no one else but himself.  He should have just stayed on Earth, in his own exile in Antarctica.  Didn’t he say he liked it there when O’Neill had asked him?  He remembered the stark skepticism and critical eye the General had leveled on him throughout the ride.  He was sure then that O’Neill knew of his record, his disobedience to rescue two of his fellow soldiers and friends.  How he had been shot down by the damned Taliban and how he had failed in that rescue mission.  How he had been captured himself by the Taliban only to be released a couple of weeks later when Special Forces had attacked the village they were at, all by happenstance.

He knew he should have died then.  Died in Afghanistan doing his duty…he shouldn’t have lived…

Or was it back when Nancy had handed him divorce papers, maybe even before that when he had gotten into a huge fight with David…driven out into the road and nearly died when some jackass drunken driver decided to play chicken for the sheer hell of it.  Maybe he should have died then, because as far as he was concerned, he was already dead…

“There is one way out of this, Colonel,” Elizabeth’s voice lost its previous venom and he looked up to see her staring at him, her face expressionless.  She pushed forward a manila folder and he picked it up, opening it to see a large colored photo of a Furling.  Flipping to the next page, he found more photos of Furlings, all different colors and facial structures.

“One of the prisoners we captured told us the gate address to the Klisan’thus homeworld,” she continued, her voice a monotone, “we sent a UAV to scout the location and found the leaders who had captured our people before executing them.  These are their photos.”

“How did you…”

“Dr. McKay was able to configure a workaround using the cloaking technology in the jumpers to cloak the UAV.  We were able to get these photographs,” she replied.

John finally realized why she had handed him the folder with the photographs in it.  He swallowed, his throat feeling incredibly dry all of the sudden.  Forcing himself to remain steady and standing at attention he flipped the folder close and stared at her.  “You realize what you’re asking me to do?”

For all of her beauty, Elizabeth’s face looked like it could have been carved out of stone, “Yes.”

John slowly nodded, hearing the finality in her voice.  She knew him well indeed…he would have no life back on Earth if he were to return and face his court martial.  Nancy had left him a long time ago, his father and he weren’t on speaking terms.  He would probably have another stint in jail before being kicked out onto the streets.  His pension would not be there because of his dishonorable discharge.  He understood the compassion, if it was that that Elizabeth offered to him.

Finish the job he had started.  Finish it and perhaps then he would be forgiven.  Perhaps then he would forgive himself.  The bitter irony of it made him want to laugh out loud at the absurdity.  Here he was, over a year and half ago; about to do the same thing, commit suicide by saving others…

Yet…

“How long do I have to think about it?” he asked, suddenly feeling his own mortality quite clearly.

“We dial Earth in about an hour,” Elizabeth replied neutrally.

He nodded once before straightening once more and saluting, “Ma’am.  Prepare to dial in forty-five minutes.”

The corners of her lips twitched up in a smile as she understood his orders.  “Dismissed, Colonel.”

He finished the salute and spun on his heel, walking away from her office and towards his quarters.  In forty-five minutes, he would rectify his mistake.  He would make sure that his men, Lorne, Teyla, and the others hadn’t died in vain.  In forty-five minutes, he would walk through the gate and kill the Furlings in the photographs.

                                    *                      *                      *

In the brightly glowing control room of the Wraith’gul, Taethos smiled as the long forgotten killing machine of the Ancients slowly rumbled to life.  Touching his left temple with a cylindrical device, he adjusted the settings of the small memory device he had implanted to the right of his temple.

He had found the device amongst the initial ruins of the Wraith’gul and had been curious about it before he realized the advantages of having one.  The device always traveled in pairs and its twin was currently feeding his own transmissions into the Colonel’s subconscious.  Aided by the potent hallucinogen that he had injected in him it made for a formidable combination indeed.

It was disappointing that the idiotic half-breed could not operate the Wraith’gul.  Otherwise, dragging out his memories would have been exquisite for him; to make Apollo see the death of his father over and over again, perhaps in so many different ways before he finally drove him insane.  But alas, his men would have gotten rid of him by now.  Time was of the essence, especially if the Tau’ri were now involved.

Taethos closed his eyes and saw the brief images of what Colonel Sheppard was doing, preparing himself for his seemingly suicide mission to kill the specific Furling images he had been given.

“That’s it Colonel, only a little more to go…” he whispered.

                                    *                      *                      *

They ran quickly and quietly through the dense underbrush, Major Lorne and Ronon on point, Teyla and Rodney in the middle, Captain Pearson and Lieutenant Brown on rear guard.  Each one of them, Rodney included carried a _za’kutus_ , finding it easier to wield while conserving ammo for their P90s.

They had already encountered a patrol as they rushed towards the Wraith’gul and had dispatched them with a concentrated fire on the four-Furling group catching them off guard.  Teyla knew the next group they encountered would probably be harder to defeat.  Nonetheless, she was determined to rescue John and the Furling that had helped them, Apollo.

Suddenly Lorne held up a fist, and Teyla stopped, pushing Rodney behind her and downwards as she looked around for any signs of the enemy.  She looked out towards the woods and stared at particular spot that didn’t quite look…right, to her.  In fact, it looked like-

“They have invisibility cloaks!” she realized what she was seeing and lifted her weapon and thumbed the trigger.  Golden bolts spat out of the end in a rapid fire pace and impacted the area as she tried to track the ripple in the woods.  She grinned as one of her bolts hit its mark and the howl of a Furling echoed through the woods just as the large alien rematerialized and suddenly the air filled with more _za’kutus_ blasts.

Teyla ducked as a few impacted the tree behind her and put a hand protectively over Rodney’s, instinctively shielding him just as three more Furlings appeared out of thin air only to take cover behind large tree trunks.

“We have to get to cover!” Rodney shouted and she nodded as the two of them scrabbled over the dirt and rocks before finding a suitable hiding spot on the other side of a fallen log and Teyla climbed over it just as three bolts spat into the trunk, inches away from her hand.

She winced as a few splinters embedded themselves into her hands, but shunted the pain away and grabbed her _za’kutus_.

“Teyla, McKay, you all right?!” Lorne’s voice crackled over the radio.

“We’re fine,” she replied back, “three o’clock from your position.  I think there are three Furlings firing on us.”

“Copy,” Lorne replied, “Ronon’s headed your way, I’m going to Pearson’s and Brown’s.  Prepare for ambush on my mark.”

“Ambush, what the heck does he mean-“

“Rodney,” Teyla chided a bit harshly.  There were times the brilliant man tested her patience and in battle, she knew it could be fatal.

“What, all I’m saying-“ he suddenly stopped talking as he stared down at his tablet and Teyla felt a rumble pass through the ground.  “Oh no, no, no, no…”

She stared at him as he looked up at her, dread written all over his face, “The Wraith’gul, it’s being activated right now.”

“Teyla, McKay, mark!” Lorne’s command barked over the radio and she popped her head up from the tree trunk as Rodney scrambled for his weapon and joined her.  Together, they fired their weapons towards where the three Furlings were hiding and saw three more groups of concentrated fire also lash out.

The Furlings scrambled out of their hiding spots as the fire was too much and Teyla smiled grimly as the crossfire took all three of them out.  As soon as the last one fell to the ground, she stopped firing and tapped her radio, “I think we are all clear, Major.”

“Roger that,” Lorne replied just as Rodney tapped his radio.

“We need to get to the Wraith’gul now.”

“McKay, we’re doing that-“

“No you don’t understand, the Wraith’gul is being activated.  I think either Sheppard or Apollo, Akiesios, whatever his name is, is stuck in there, working the machine!”

“How much further?” Teyla asked and Rodney glanced down at his tablet for a second before pointing in a vaguely southerly direction.

“We should be there soon.  I don’t see any patrols, but then again, this thing can’t pick up cloaked enemies,” he gave a small bark of worried laughter.

“Do you know how to shut the machine down?” she asked.

“Yes, yes, I think I can,” he nodded, “I just need to get to a control panel and hopefully override it.”

She looked up just as Ronon tromped through a bush and appeared before them, looking a bit disheveled and dirt-streaked.

“All right, new plan,” Lorne’s voice crackled over the radio again, “we’ll run you guys through the gauntlet in case anyone else is around.  Ronon, Teyla, get McKay to the Wraith’gul and shut it off.”

“Needn’t be told twice,” Ronon muttered as she stood up from her position and started off, keeping a wary eye out for anymore cloaked Furlings.  She jogged at a brisk pace, hearing Ronon prodding McKay on as he yelped a few times and tried to not stumble upon the brush.  A few minutes later she heard the _zap_ , _zap_ sound of _za’kutus_ being fired and then Lorne’s shout for covering fire and realized that the three soldiers had run into yet another patrol but had succeeded in distracting them and pushed on.

They reached the clearing to the catacombs of the Wraith’gul in no time and Teyla slowed down as they approached, dropping her _za’kutus_ and lifting her P90, pointing it warily around her.  She saw Ronon do the same, but draw his gun out and pointed it behind them just in case anyone dared to ambush them.  Suddenly a rustle in the fern-trees to her left made her point her gun towards it before a familiar and welcomed voice filled the air.

“Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, don’t shoot!  It is I, Apollo!” the familiar handsome man stepped out of the woods, holding a _za’kutus_ and wearing a tac vest.  Behind him emerged many more humans, most of them she did not recognize, but all wore the same body armor as Apollo.  Furlings…human-formed Furlings a part of her realized.

Behind him was a tall and beautiful female that was nearly Apollo’s height.  She had the look of authority about her and exuded confidence and command, but oddly did not seem to be giving the orders.

Instead, she turned back to Apollo and smiled a greeting, “How did you learn our names?”

“The soldiers from Atlantis and from the _Daedalus_ were kind enough to tell me after I managed to escape with some help and met up with them,” Apollo smiled tightly before glancing into the deep catacombs, “I have felt the rumblings and stirrings of the Wraith’gul.  I presume that is why you are here too?  Having Major Lorne and his men draw off an ambush?”

“Yes,” she nodded before gesturing to Rodney who had briefly looked up at the troops before looking back down at his tablet, making a few calculations and muttering mostly to himself.  “Dr. McKay says he may be able to shut it down if we can get to a control console.”

“Taethos has his position in the control center heavily fortified,” Apollo looked grim just as Major Lorne, Captain Pearson, and Lieutenant Brown emerged from the woods along with the familiar face of Major Hicks and some of Atlantis’ marines.

“Do you know of a back-“

“Grenade!” one of the Furlings shouted and Teyla turned slightly to see an object similar to the ones Ronon had showed them in the armory rolling to a stop by the entrance.

She immediately reacted on instinct, diving to the ground, covering her head.  She barely saw Ronon shove Rodney to the ground, one arm on the scientist’s head protecting his own head, the others on his own just as the explosion rocked the entrance, showering them all with dust and debris.  She coughed a few times, expelling a wave of dust and rolled to her side, her ears ringing from the concussive force of the blast.

“Firing positions!” the beautiful woman who had been further away suddenly shouted, or at least that was what she thought she shouted as her hearing was still ringing a bit.

Suddenly she was yanked backwards and scrambled to her feet just as the area she was lying in was peppered with _za’kutus_ blasts and she glanced upwards to see Apollo pulling her to her feet.  Together they ducked behind a large boulder near the entrance and readied her P90 once more.  It looked like they were going to have to fight their way in.

Teyla bit her lip in frustration just as another tremor shook the ground.  If Apollo was out here, it meant that John was the one who was operating the Wraith’gul, and knowing him, he was probably doing it under extreme duress.  _Hold on John, we are coming_ , she silently thought as she peered out of her cover and fired into the darkened entrance.

                                    *                      *                      *

tlan� n��P��e='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Daedalus together, “Colonel Caldwell.”

 

“Online, good to hear your voice, Arileon,” Caldwell replied.

“If the Chapp'ai activates and my men are not able to shut it off on time, I need you beam everyone aboard your ship and destroy the Chapp'ai.”

“We don't-”

“Hermiod has told me of your naquadah-enhanced nuclear warheads.  One should be able to bury the Chapp'ai forever,” he replied grimly.

Silence reigned on the end as he collected a tac vest handed to him by one of the Atlantis crew and slipped it on before securing it and started back to the Wraith'gul.  “Understood, good luck,” Caldwell finally replied before he touched the radio again and terminated the link.

“Let's move!” he called, barely noticing his half-sister following behind him, a grim smile on her face.  He needed to stop Sheppard, needed to stop Taethos...needed to make sure that he saved the right people this time.  He would not fail.

                                    *                      *                      *

 


	12. Sleep, Before I Do

Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**Disclaimer:** Stargate SG-1  & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn’t get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Category:** Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

**Pairing:** Hints of Shep/Weir, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.

**Notes:** **_This chapter is very, very long_**.  I was tempted to break it into two more chapters, but my beta told me that it interrupted the flow.  So here is the final chapter and conclusion of _Sleep Before I Do_ in its entirety.  I would like to now thank all of my reviewers and future reviewers for your kind words and encouragement and fun debates on the various ships/non-ships in this story amongst other things.  I would also like to thank my beta Algae09.  Thank you again!  I will see you in my next story for _Stargate Atlantis_!

 

**Story:**

_Chapter 12 – Sleep Before I Do_

 

It seemed like word of what John was going to do spread throughout the base like wildfire.  Some of his men, whatever remained of them, had even help outfit him for his mission.  Rodney had even come by to say a few words of consolation, but he saw the distance, the revulsion his best friend’s eyes how he had failed his men.  For the first time in his life, he felt self-conscious of the enormous and unforgiving task that had been set before him.  He had even taken the time to write a few letters, record a couple of messages for those he knew he was going to leave behind.

But most of them had looked upon him with vindictive smiles, all thinking that perhaps he was taking the coward’s way out.  But John saw it differently.  He was making his own last ditch effort in making things right and by doing this, by killing those Furlings, he hoped that perhaps, it would send a message back to those who had doubted him.  That he would rectify things – that he was apologetic, that he couldn’t be the son his father wanted him to be, couldn’t be the soldier everyone wanted him to be, couldn’t be the husband Nancy wanted him to be, couldn’t be the man God wanted him to be.

He had to be who he was, John Sheppard.

So he stood stock still, as the lights flashed on the gate before the kawoosh of the wormhole engaging sealed the finality of his mission.  He took a second to make sure the Sodan cloaking device was secured on his wrist and stepped towards the active stargate.  He could feel the eyes of many on his back and wanted to turn to have one more look at what had been his home for the last three years.  But it wasn’t home anymore, not after he had fucked up so badly.

No, he did not allow himself the luxury of a dead man walking to look around his surroundings.  He was a soldier, dedicated to the mission.  He was going to metaphorically rescue his men from the front lines and complete his mission.  He paused half a step from entering the stargate and brought up his wrist, staring at the glowing bracelet that seemingly mocked him.  The corners of his lips twitched up in an ironic smile before he activated the device and stepped through.

The compression lasted less than half a second, to the point where his lungs were screaming for air, nerves tingling with barely restrained pain, when suddenly he emerged from the other side of the wormhole and immediately brought his P90 up.

A row of Furlings stood, their cat-like faces stoic, all of them holding _za’kutus_ pointed at the wormhole.  None of them had fired, and he smiled grimly as he realized they had not seen him exit the stargate and so he peeled off to the side, headed towards one of the large pillars in the forum of the Grecian temple-like structure the stargate seemed to be housed in.

He knew he could kill the guards right then and there, but that would only make his mission harder.  His priority was to assassinate those in the pictures.  Escape was secondary, even though his Special Forces training told him otherwise.  Included in his pilots’ training for various helicopters, he had done some Special Forces training to supplement his secret missions into war zones.  Anyone going into a hazardous combat zone received some Special Forces training before being deployed.

He skirted the edges of the temple columns, keep his footsteps light.  He seriously hoped that a Furling’s sense of smell wasn’t as great as perhaps their littler Earth counterparts.  But it seemed that they were focused on the stargate instead of anywhere else.  It was a bit odd, but John chalked it up to luck and continued on his way.

                                    *                      *                      *

The deafening bang of another grenade going off made Apollo duck as the spray of dirt and debris impacted the back of his body armor.  “Keep it up!” he shouted as he lifted his _za’kutus_ and fired a few rounds into the deep cavern before popping back down into his cover behind a fairly large boulder.  Beside him, Teyla peered out from her cover and fired a few rounds before ducking back as a few golden bolts lanced across where her face used to be.

“There are too many of them,” she looked at him and he nodded, wiping what felt like a bead of sweat down the side of his face only to find his hands stained with black.  When and how he had received a cut on his head was beyond him, but he knew that they needed a different way in.

“I think I know of a different way in,” he searched his memory for the other entrance, the much smaller and more dangerous entrance, “but it may collapse at any time, especially if the Wraith’gul has now been activated.”

Teyla nodded as she tapped her radio, “Major, Apollo thinks there is another way in.”  She paused for a few seconds, receiving her orders before she turned him again, “Ronon, Rodney, and I will accompany you.”  He nodded and gestured to two of his men, to follow him and they pushed themselves back into the woods, Teyla following them.

As soon as they sounds of gunfire were distant, he glanced around him and gestured for his men to take point while Ronon and McKay emerged from the bushes along with Major Lorne and two of his own men, the scientist looking a bit worst for wear as dirt covered his face and matted parts of his hair.  Ronon however, gave him a feral looking smile before joining him as he navigated the woods to the back entrance.

“Where is this back entrance?” the scientist complained behind him as another rumble shook the ground, making all of them stagger in their spots.

“We discovered it over ten years ago when we first arrived on this planet, but it had been unused and we have been unable to activate the entrance.  I believe now that it may have been activated using the Ancient gene,” he remembered the numerous attempts at blowing the door up, digging it out, and trying every thing to hardwire the control panel to open it before Taethos had given up on it and decided to dig the main entrance of the Wraith'gul out by hand.  That process had taken at least several more years as the thing was buried underneath tons of rubble.

When they had finally uncovered it, Taethos had launched his plan to use the Chappa’ai as a means of getting people through to test the Wraith'gul, but he also wanted people that weren't afraid of any superstitions like many of the inhabitants of this galaxy were.  Most of their dealings with the Genii had been fruitless since all that they had tested did not have the gene of the Ancients, but they had discovered the existence of a new group of humans who had supposedly inhabited Atlantis.

Commander Acastus Kolya had given them pictures of the ones whom they knew had the Ancient gene and it was only through sheer luck that they had arrived on the planet just days ago.  However, since he was the medical officer in the group, he had not been privy to such discussions and he knew that if he had been, he would have prevented such a thing from happening.

It was his hope that Taethos had forgotten about the back entrance which would make it easier for them to sneak in and reach the control center or at least a terminal where Dr. McKay could do some damage or shut the Wraith'gul down.  However, even if the hyperactive scientist could shut it down, he knew he still needed to make sure Colonel Sheppard was out of Taethos' clutches.  He knew that the Sujunor would not hesitate to kill him out of spite if his plans failed.

They encountered little resistance on their quick trek to the other side where he vaguely remembered where the entrance used to be - a good sign in his opinion.  That meant that Artemis' forces and the Tau'ri strike forces were securing the area.  It also meant that a majority of Taethos' men were either stuck on the Genii homeworld or were in the catacombs with their commander.  He had given specific kill orders and though their people would mourn the loss of each soldier and the High Council would be angry at such an amount of loss, Apollo knew that there had to be no mercy towards traitors, especially those who sought to overthrow the High Council.

Taethos may be the only traitor who survived this whole thing, but even he wasn't sure what he would do when he saw him.  All Agentus members had been trained to be ruthless and to kill without hesitation.  His orders had been clear when he had been sent twenty years ago, if Taethos proved to be a threat, he must be eliminated.  However, he knew circumstances have changed and with Artemis here, there was a chance she may want to question him or bring him before the High Council.

They came up to a seemingly innocent mound of moss-covered rocks, something some of the local native children from other villages far away used to play around before Taethos established his camp near by.

“Hmm, I'm getting faint energy readings,” Dr. McKay murmured behind him before brushing past him and held up a small Alteran life-detector that he had apparently converted to Tau'ri uses.

“Doctor?” he queried stepping closer as the others took a protective perimeter around them, wary for any ambush.

He saw him rake a few moss patches away from the rock before suddenly a panel hissed open and Apollo was glad that the crystals were still intact.  However, the doctor made a noise of frustration before leveling him with the most disdainful look he could manage.  “What did you guys do?  Play jigsaw puzzle with this?!  It's going to take me-”

“Rodney, you can make it work,” Teyla cut him off with a pointed look as another rumble shook the area, “you need to make it work.”

“Working on it,” the scientist grumbled before moving to the crystals and started to rearrange them.

Apollo inched forward, still unsure about his abrasive attitude.  He had been wondering for sometime now, ever since he had found them in the cell, how anyone could work with such a Tau'ri with a disdainful attitude, but it seemed that Teyla and Ronon, even Major Lorne were more familiar with his pessimistic outlooks and were able to work around it.  If he had been a Furling he would have already been ostracized from the community or arrested for treasonous acts against the High Council.  “I believe I remember some of the patterns of the crystals, Doctor,” he pointed out two of the crystals he recognized, “those two went there.”

“Yes, thank you,” the dismissal was evident and he frowned before catching Ronon's rolling eyes and suppressed a grin of amusement.  So even the stoic Satedan could find some humor.

A few seconds later, the crystal components lit up and Dr. McKay gave a small cry of accomplishment before pushing the panel back in and hurried towards a small plinth that stood next to a rock and brushed away some more moss.

“Yes that is...” Apollo recognized the slanted plinth that they had tried to put their hands on to open, but it had never lit up or anything.

“I know, I know,” the doctor waved his comments away before putting his hand on the plinth.

Nothing happened.

“Huh, I thought I-” McKay suddenly snapped his fingers and looked at Major Lorne, “Lorne, get over here!”

“Please would be nice,” he barely heard the military man mutter as he abandoned his position and approached them.

“Here, put your hand on this,” the scientist gestured to the plinth and Apollo saw him shuck his fingerless gloves off before placing his palm on the plinth.

The plinth immediately glowed and McKay gave a wiry grin to everyone, “I figured if the Wraith'gul needs a natural carrier, then it would be like them to set up a security system where only natural carriers can enter.”

“Um, hey Doc, it's asking me how many are going down,” Lorne looked a bit confused.

“Huh?  How, it's not written anymore nor is there a display,” McKay looked at Lorne and Apollo saw a slight bit of hesitation on the Major's face.

“It's...asking me in my head,” even he sounded a bit bewildered.

“In your-” the pessimistic man's skepticism was rudely cut off as a deeper rumble, this time lasting for more than ten seconds shook the area, startling the birds higher in the trees as they took off with loud cries.  “Okay,” he stepped smartly up next to the Major along with Ronon and Teyla.

Apollo pointed to one of his men, “Rigel, Procyon, stay up here, contact Artemis and tell her what has happened.  Ask Major Hicks if there are any others who have the natural gene of the Alterans-”

“-Dr. Beckett is a natural gene carrier,” Lorne spoke up before pointing his two men, “Richards, Li, get Beckett here.”

Apollo smiled grimly before joining the small group huddled by Lorne.  “We're ready.”

“Okay, hopefully this'll work,” Lorne muttered quietly before closing his eyes and concentrating.

A second later, bright white lights filled Apollo's vision.

                                    *                      *                      *

Major Evan Marcus Lorne honestly had no idea what would happen.  All he was doing was going on pure instinct...and following the voice that was speaking in his head.  If someone told him four and a half years ago he was going to be traveling through the galaxy to other places, other planets, meeting aliens, he would have called them crazy and sent an immediate recommendation for a psych evaluation.  That was four and a half years ago when he had joined the Stargate Program.

If someone told him a two years ago that he was carrying some...unique gene that made him able to operate long dead equipment left by glowing squid-like things, he would have called them crazy and maybe, just maybe recommended to Dr. Lam that they get perhaps a full medical workup to check for any alien pathogen.

If someone told him a couple of days ago that he would be hearing voices in his head and opening the door to that could wipe life out of this entire galaxy, he wouldn't have batted an eye at all.  It was funny how he had acclimated quickly to that particular idea more than the others in his life, but he figured such was life living in the Pegasus galaxy.  All he knew he could do was hope that his own gene didn't end up blowing all of them up.  His only consolation was that sometimes his CO had worst luck than he did when it came to Ancient equipment and combined with Dr. McKay's perchance to touch everything; sometimes it was good to be the second-in-command.

However, in this case, he knew that it was not luck, but rather misfortune that Taethos had picked Sheppard to be the guinea pig.  His commander was counting on him and the others to get him out of this mess and Lorne was more than happy to make sure that they all got out of this hell hole alive.

So when they arrived in the dimly lit room, Lorne found himself the first one to recover and could hear the musical, feminine tone that had asked him if he wanted to enter, fading away.  He wanted to say that he sort of recognized the feminine tone, having heard it somewhere else, but he didn't remember where.  Filing that in the back of his head as another mystery to solve another day, he brought up his P90 and switched on his flashlight, advancing past the small group to take point as they recovered their eyesight.

Like clockwork, Ronon was the first one to recover, and stepped parallel to him, gun pointed up, eyes calculating.  Teyla was next, followed by the human Furling Apollo, and finally McKay after nearly walking into the Furling.  Lorne didn't quite know what to make of the Furling.  He had read the mission reports when he was still with the SGC about the lack of mention of Furlings, but to find them here...it shocked him.  The SGC, General O'Neill especially, was going to have a shit fit after their mission reports today.  However, it still did not mean he trusted Apollo and knew that the rest of the team felt the same.  Any false move on the Furling's part, human form or not, was going to find himself at the end of their guns.

“All right, where do we go now?” Ronon asked, looking at him and he was about to shrug when he heard a tinkling musical sound before a faint nudge told him what he needed to know.

“Um, I think...this way,” McKay spoke up, pointing in a vaguely left direction as he stared at his life signs detector.

“No, I think it’s the other way,” Lorne immediately knew that it was the wrong direction he was pointing in.

“But I'm getting stronger power readings-”

“I know, but I think it’s the other way,” Lorne couldn't quite explain how he knew that it was wrong without sounding like a crazy man, “it's...complicated.”

“What do you mean complicated?” McKay asked, giving him a puzzled look, “I'm getting higher power readings so that means it’s that way.  It's the same power readings I got when I first got here!”

“Look,” he waved a hand at McKay just as another rumble shook the catacombs, sending a shower of dirt down upon them and they all looked up and around before he caught the doctor's gaze again, “look, you run towards the power readings, that's great.  But what if it's a direct line, an ambush right where Taethos wants you?  I think mine is a back route, better to ambush.”

“He is right,” Apollo spoke up quietly, “it may be a trap.  I do not know if Taethos remembers this entrance way to the Wraith'gul, but we cannot walk headlong into such a trap.”

“Fine,” McKay huffed before drawing out his handgun, “lead the way then.”

Lorne knew that he could have ordered McKay to shut up and follow his orders, but he did not want to be a forceful commander like his old CO, Colonel Edwards.  He had been surprised at the amount of leeway Sheppard had shown towards the civilians and military personnel on Atlantis when he had arrived two years ago, and thought it was a byproduct of being isolated for a year.  But Sheppard had proven him wrong in that aspect, treating those under his command with more of a friendly demeanor than a strict military commander of his rank.  It had been a fast adjustment after that, and Lorne liked the loosened command structure, a definitive way of say that yes, they were part of Stargate Command, but yes, they were a civilian run expedition.

He followed his the nagging instinct that occasionally sounded like a tinkling musical noise, almost like his mother's piano, taking them through twisting mazes of blocky, angular dimly lit hallways that looked like they could have been built from Atlantis itself.

There were two more tremors through the ground that made them stop and find purchase as dirt and bits of debris fell down upon them.  During one of them he had felt a sharp pain on the side of his face and found his hand slick with blood after he touched it, but it wasn't serious according to Apollo.  The Furling had offered the same white paste that Teyla had used to heal Ronon's blast wound, but he had declined, more focused on getting his CO out than on his own health at the moment.  Finally, just as they approached a set of doors, he halted, hearing a faint warning sound in his mind before it disappeared.

Holding up his left hand in a fist, he stopped and skirted to the side, P90 pointed towards the middle of the door.  He saw McKay hurry over to the opposite side where a control panel faintly glowed.

“Give me a few seconds,” the doctor murmured as he worked the control crystals.

“I hear voices,” Ronon's deep voice rumbled behind him and Lorne strained his ears and heard that indeed, he did hear voices.

“Doc, hold on a second!” he quietly called over to McKay who stopped his work, looking up.  “How many life signs do you see ahead of us?” he asked.

“Um...four, no, two...one?” McKay looked confused, “They all just suddenly disappeared.  There's only one registering, maybe Sheppard?”

“They may be cloaked,” Apollo looked grim, “I do not know if the life signs detector can read anyone wearing a cloak.  We had developed the technology with the Teythan'thus, the Nox's help after the Alterans returned to their home galaxy and Ascended.”

“That does explain how the Goa'uld got their hands on some ashrak cloaks,” Lorne could see the little pieces, bits and pieces of mostly Goa'uld technology falling down like a puzzle piece that seemed almost complete.  Stargate Command had always wondered how the Goa'uld got so much advance technology when their previous hosts were Unas as it seemed that most of the humans of the galaxy with the exception of a few like the Tollans, were primitive tribal types.

It was no secret that Goa'uld, Anubis especially, scavenged technology whenever and wherever they could, so it stood that they probably stole most of the Furlings' technology when they were in the Milky Way galaxy.  The question that lingered in his mind was how they managed to do it under the Furlings' noses.

“Doesn't help us at all,” McKay groused before glancing at the panel he was working on, “okay, I think I got it...now!”

The doors slid open with a quiet pneumatic hiss and Lorne immediately swept his gun and flashlight across the room.  Seeing no immediate threats, he stepped in hurrying forward.  The room was wide and circular, with a clear hallway that lead to three different areas beside the one that they had come from.  The unearthly glow from the panels, clearly Ancient in design, cast a slightly brighter shadow over the room, enough for him to turn off his flashlight.

“McKay?” he called out.

“Still that one reading,” he replied as they circled around the room cautiously.

“Major,” Teyla's voice was raised and he hurried over to where she was standing, her face bathed in an unhealthy pinkish light.  He turned to see what she was staring at and a sliver of fear shot through him.  Sheppard was standing on a platform, encased in a forcefield that engulfed the whole circular platform.  However, he was facing what looked like a massive control panel, hands by his side, eyes closed.  However, that wasn't the part that made him wonder what happened to his CO.

It was the sheer amount of pain etched on his face that made him nearly recoil.  Sweat had beaded on his forehead, pouring down the sides of his face, and Lorne thought he saw a small tremor pass through his body, but he guessed it could have been a trick of the forcefield surrounding him.

“Colonel?” he called tentatively, reaching a hand out to touch the forcefield-

“No don't!” McKay's shout came too late-

-and Lorne found himself flying through the air, hitting one of the consoles opposite where Sheppard was.  His vision exploded with stars, as he crumpled to the ground.  His back ached fiercely from the impact and he found that his own breath came in ragged gasps as he tried to make his lungs work.  _Shit that hurt_ , he tried to blink the stars away from his vision and looked blearily up to see two, three Apollos trying to help him up.

“I-I'm okay, I'm...” he slurred as he felt an arm tugging at his own, trying to pull him up.

The distinct sound of a _za'kutus_ staff weapon activating shut him up immediately and he blearily looked up to see the very familiar fur pattern of a Furling standing by him.  However, the bulbous end of the weapon wasn't pointed at him, and instead, pointed at Apollo's head.

“I knew you would come,” Taethos' voice rumbled above him.

                                    *                      *                      *

Apollo turned his head minutely as he heard Taethos' voice rumble above him.  He could also hear the crescendo of safeties taken off from the Tau'ri weapons as the rest of them pointed their weapons at the traitorous Klisan'thus.  He had frozen mid-way helping the stunned Major up from his spectacular trek across the room after he had just barely touched the forcefield surrounding Colonel Sheppard.

He could almost feel the bulbous activated end of the za'kutus touching his cheek, but knew that it was just his imagination.  “What do you want?” it was hard to keep his eye on Taethos when he could barely turn his head.

“You were always soft as an Agenti,” Taethos murmured quietly, “it is a wonder that you adhere to your Alteran side and return for these second-borns.  Tell me, I believe your half-sister, Artemis, is outside, is she not?  Nonetheless prepared to fire upon the Wraith'gul on your orders, to destroy it, yet, you scurry back in here, tail between your legs like some lowly pet to rescue Colonel Sheppard.”

“You are you asking me why?” Apollo knew that Taethos was deliberately speaking in the common language of the Tau'ri in order to gloat.  He could have antagonized him in the Klisan'thus tongue, but he chose not to.

“I am just curious as to why you seemingly have an unhealthy obsession with the Colonel.  Perhaps you prefer him?” the implied comment made Apollo flushed with anger.

How dare he assume, presume, or even think such thoughts!  Since their species was long-lived and rarely mated, when one chose a mate, it was after some careful thought.  For Taethos to insinuate that he had chosen another male as his mate, made him see red with anger.  The Klisan'thus knew full well he already had a potential mate, Castalia, back on their home planet, if she would accept him.

“Or was it that you preferred your little admirer, Logios, who came to your aid?  Oh yes, I knew about Logios.  I let him be, knowing that you would eventually return here.”

Apollo found that his breath was hitching with anger at each word, that his grip had tightened on Major Lorne's arm, making him recover from his initial dizziness as he had a new pain to focus on.  But all he saw and remembered was the mental torture Taethos had inflicted upon him for that short while, but it had been enough, seeing his father die twice over before Logios had managed to inject the antidote into him.

He thought he heard three more hissing sounds of za'kutus arming themselves as the shuffle of feet from the others made them turn in their spots.  They were surrounded, he knew that for certain.  But...for the others to reveal themselves at this time, when Taethos had the upper hand...that was the biggest and last mistake they were ever going to make.

He slid his gaze sideways to Major Lorne who minutely tapped two of his fingers, spread out at an acute angle, telling him where Teyla and Ronon were.  That left Dr. McKay.  The man was a civilian, most likely unable to defend himself, which meant, if he was going to act, his first thing was to make sure that McKay would be safe.

“Do you like hearing yourself talk?” he snarled out as he slid his gaze back up to Taethos.  He thought he could barely see the doctor from his angle, but it was hard.  “And you did not know about Logios.  You are only convincing yourself about that when you realized your plans have failed.”

“Ah, but they are not,” Taethos smiled, his pointed teeth wide and sharp, “even as we speak, Colonel Sheppard-”

Another tremor shook the room.

“-is preparing the Wraith'gul for its final blast that will kill certain members of the High Council.  I would think about...now, is when the Chappa’ai will activate.”

“Sir!  The stargate just activated by itself!  Outgoing wormhole!” he distantly heard the tinned voice of one of the Tau'ri left behind to guard the Chappa’ai from Major Lorne's earpiece radio.

Suddenly Apollo felt it before it even happened and knew that this was his chance.  Just as the tremor started up again he made his decision.  He was going to save these Tau'ri not because it was his mission to finish, but because it was what his father would have wanted – the second-born of the Alterans, destined for greater things.  As the first violent tremor hit, he shapeshifted.

Nerve-wracking pain seared across his whole body in the split second it took him to transform, and he felt his heart squeeze tightly for a second, wondering it if it was going to explode from the deadly speed of his shifting before he let go of Lorne's arm and  tackled Taethos, already meshing with his natural senses.

In that split second, he could already feel himself dying from what he had done, but he would finish his mission, and finish Taethos.

                                    *                      *                      *

Rodney was nearly bowled over as two furry blurs crashed into him and the Furling that had been pointing a _za'kutus_ at him.  He managed to grab the edge of a console to prevent himself from sprawling to the ground before half turning and firing on the Furling that had held him at gunpoint.

His messy spray of bullets didn't exactly all hit their marks from his odd angle, but they at least shot the alien dead just as the rest of the room opened fire.  He ducked, half covering his head as bullets and bolts lanced throughout the room along with the two fighting blurs, one obviously shorter than the other, but nonetheless putting up a fierce fight.

He hefted his 9mm, trying to find a shot to take from the two combating forms, but just as quickly they took the fight deeper into the caverns that they had come from and disappeared from view.

“McKay!  Figure out how to shut off the thing!” Lorne shouted from his cover, firing several bullets into what looked like the remaining Furling left alive, still valiantly determined to kill all of them.

“Got it,” he glanced up and made sure that said Furling was sufficiently distracted before getting up from his cover and hurrying around it, bringing his tablet to bear as he stared at the scrolling lines of Ancient text that was displayed.

It was obvious that they couldn't just rip Sheppard from the controls, so he had to figure out a way to shut down the forcefield and maybe they could then rip him from the controls.  “Forcefield, forcefield,” he muttered mostly to himself as he tapped a few keys on the control panel he was working at, and cursed silently as it scrolled some more data up at him.

He heard a yowling sound before a muffled thump of something falling to the ground and dimly realized that the last Furling was dead.  However that wasn't his main concern as he tapped a few more buttons before grinning, finding the schematics that he wanted on the panel.  “Ah ha, there you are,” he whispered before quickly reading the text, his mind translating as much as he could as best as he could.

“Did you find it?” Teyla spoke in front of him, one of her hands rested on top of the control panel, the other still holding her P90.

“Yeah, just give me a second,” he frowned as he read through the text, “this is bad...according to this, the forcefield can only be lowered when the user either steps away from the Wraith'gul platform itself or it has completed its task.”

“Richards, this is Lorne, you have the doc there?” he heard Lorne tap his radio.

“Yes sir,” came the quick reply.

“Send a team of marines down here.  Taethos is still alive, but he's currently combating Apollo,” Lorne replied before pointing to Ronon, “You’re with me.  Let's go hunt down that son of a bitch.”

“With pleasure,” he heard Ronon growl.

“McKay, hurry it up,” Lorne shot at him and he gave the Major an annoyed look.

“I'm trying,” he groused as the two of them left the way they had come in.  He stared at them for a second before turning to see Teyla walking the half circle around Sheppard, a curious expression on his face.

“Rodney, there's something on his head,” she murmured and he looked at her, confused.

“What?” he hurried over to where she was and saw what she was pointing at.

It was just a small thing, almost quarter-sized.  But he had read enough SGC mission reports and even had Sam Carter describe it to him enough times that he instantly recognized what was on John's temple.

“Shit that's bad,” he grimaced, “if I'm correct, that's a Tok'ra memory device.”

“I'm not familiar with that, but from what John and Elizabeth have told me aren't the Tok'ra Goa'uld?” Teyla spread her hands out as another deep tremor shook the room.

“Eh,” he shrugged as he hurried back to the console, “just don't call them that.  They kind of get pissed when you compare them to the Goa'uld.  Same species, but I guess different philosophy.”  He checked his readings before tapping his radio, “Lorne, Ronon, I think Taethos was controlling Sheppard through a Tok'ra memory device.  If you get a chance-”

“-shoot it off of him, got it,” Lorne's quick reply came back.

“What about,” Teyla started again as yet another tremor rumbled the room, “the forcefield?”

Rodney was about to reply when this time the ground violently buckled, throwing him to the ground.  He managed to grab his tablet as it fell from its perch and hugged it to his body as he and Teyla rode out the tremor.  Glancing down at his tablet, he noticed to his dismay that the tremors were increasing in frequency.  He looked up to see the console Sheppard was standing before was also glowing brighter, and a HUD had appeared overhead, a countdown in the Ancient language telling them how long until the Wraith'gul fired.

“We've found the Tok'ra memory device!  It's been destroyed!” Lorne's static filled transmission was barely heard over the rumblings.

“Major, any sign of Apollo?” Teyla asked as Rodney managed to stand on steady footing through the tremors that weren't stopping now and staggered over to the podium, careful not to touch any part of the forcefield.  He looked up at the HUD, his mind racing.  The countdown was the last part until the Wraith'gul activated.  There was no way he could shut it down, even if he had equipment to do it.  He gritted his teeth in frustration, feeling completely helpless. 

“No,” he heard Lorne's reply over the radio before he activated his own microphone.

“Get out of here, Lorne!  There's nothing else you or Ronon can do.  Tell the _Daedalus_ to evacuate everyone!  Tell Atlantis to raise its shield along with Stargate Command!”

“What good would that do?” Teyla yelled at him, joining him as they both held onto the edges of the console platform, staring up at the HUD and John's still pain filled face.  He had hoped that with the destruction of the Tok'ra memory device Sheppard would snap out of whatever funk he had been thrown into, but it looked like it wasn't the case.

“Sheppard!” he yelled his best friend's name, “come on!  Snap out of it!”

“John!” Teyla joined in shouting his name, and Rodney thought he saw a twitch on his face, but he wasn't sure with all of the rumbling and his vision shaking heavily.

“John!” he shouted again and relief poured over him as he saw the man's eyes slowly twitch open, some of the pain melting from his features.

“R-Rodney....T-Teyla?” Sheppard looked blearily at them his eyes unfocused, but Rodney now knew that they at least had a chance.

“Oh good God, Sheppard, you-”

“Why...you...you're supposed to be dead,” Sheppard wasn't even paying attention to him and instead his gaze was rooted on Teyla before his eyes unfocused once more, “no...mission.  Have to...High Council...”

“Sheppard!” he shouted, snapping his best friend's gaze back to him.  He suspected that there had to be a drug in his system to make him so delirious and unfocused.  The John Sheppard he knew had a razor fine sense of focus and uncanny knack for picking up subtle hints that even he occasionally missed.  “You're in the control center of the Wraith'gul.  You were manipulated into activating it and it's going to kill us all if you don't shut it down.”

“Kill us...?” Sheppard's hazel eyes had lost their focus once more, “no...stargate mission-”

“Goddamnit, just listen!” Rodney lifted a fist to pound at the forcefield when his brain caught up with his actions and he managed to stop himself from touching the forcefield, “shut the machine down!  You don't have to go through with your mission!”

“Teyla's ghost...” Sheppard had a lazy, confused smile on his face, “'Lizbeth...only way...save face...  Failed...Lorne, Ronon...failed...”

“Well you'll only fail if you-” Rodney felt his blood pressure rise as he glanced up at the countdown.

“Rodney,” Teyla's calming hand on his shoulder stopped him and he glanced at her.  She staggered forward and looked up at Sheppard.

“John, if you truly believe that I am a ghost, you must know that I will not condone your actions.  If you kill,” she hesitated for a second, “ _them_ , I will not approve of it.”

“But...Elizabeth...” he looked so lost and confused.

“Dr. Weir would not order such a thing from you,” Teyla shook her head.  Many thought Rodney was unobservant of the relationships between the various personnel, but truth be told, he didn't really bother himself with the minute details.  However, ever since Sheppard had proven himself to be the Captain Kirk of this galaxy, he couldn't help but notice how many women were drawn to him and his charm.  It had made him a bit jealous, but he had noticed that in the long run, the two women to whom his best friend seemed more attracted to was Elizabeth and to Teyla.

The two with the coolest heads in the expedition that could temper the fiery rash anger that Sheppard was prone to unleash on more than one occasion.

“John?” the spike of concern in Teyla's voice made him look up to see Sheppard suddenly hold his head in a grimace before his eyes popped open and he leaned heavily against the console.

“What...what's going on?” he wheezed out, breathless.

“Sheppard?” Rodney asked hesitantly, squeezing his grip tighter on the corner of the console as the tremors grew in intensity.

“McKay?” John stared at him owlishly, “Teyla?”

“Listen, you're in the control center of the Wraith'gul, do you understand that?” Rodney asked frantically, hoping to God or whatever deity that existed that his best friend was coherent.

“...Yeah,” Sheppard looked around him, still wincing, but nonetheless looking a lot more coherent than he was moments ago.

“Shut it down, or else we'll all die.  That counter up there,” he pointed up towards the descending numbers.

“Not good,” he finished his sentence before looking down at them, “why...are you holding onto the sides.”

“Tremors,” Rodney shot back, “maybe a cave in.”  Just as he spoke, a horrible screech sound filled the air and a ton of debris and rocks came flying down from one of the entrance ways, making him stare at the pile with wide eyes.  “Oh shit...”

“All right,” Sheppard stared at the console for a second before placing his hands on them and closing his eyes.

For a split second, Rodney thought that Sheppard was concentrating on shutting the Wraith'gul down, when he started to feel a tingling sensation on his arms and legs.  He looked up at his friend and opened his mouth, “Shep-”

Rodney suddenly found himself outside in the woods next to the entrance of the catacombs to the Wraith'gul. “-pard, what are you...”  He trailed off, spinning around to see Teyla, equally shocked, the two of them all alone by themselves in the woods with only the recent signs of battle around them.

“What happened?” Teyla asked, shifting her P90 around, wary for any ambush.

“I...don't,” he didn't finish his thought as he realized what his friend intended to do, “oh no...”

Suddenly, he heard the familiar whine and bright light of an Asgard beaming technology before the woody scenic was replaced by the cool metallic hues of the _Daedalus_ and at least six guns trained on him and Teyla.

“Whoa!  Hold your fire!” he called out, raising his hands and tablet up slightly in surrender.

“Dr. McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Colonel Caldwell is waiting for you on the bridge,” one of the Daedalus' marines stepped forward as the rest of them lowered their weapons.

“Figures,” he snipped as he brushed past the guards and stepped in the hallway and headed towards the bridge.  He walked past some of the human-formed Furlings, some whom were triaged in the hallway, and caught Carson running back and forth between two marines, barking orders.  Finally he arrived on the bridge, Teyla behind him.

“Doctor,” Caldwell greeted in his ever present neutral tone, “Colonel Sheppard is not with you?”

“No, he booted us out of the Wraith'gul,” Rodney was livid with despair as he knew exactly what John did to him and Teyla.  He pointed out of the bridge's viewport, “He's still down there.”

“What?!” Caldwell lost his entire calm demeanor, “Why didn't you-”

“Believe me we tried,” Rodney was in no mood to go toe-to-toe with the by-the-book Colonel.

“Status of the Wraith'gul,” Caldwell turned to his weapons officer on his right.

“It looks like it's about to fire, sir,” Kleinman replied.

“Target the area around the stargate,” Caldwell ordered.

“Wait, you're going to bury the stargate?!” Rodney blurted out.

“Yes, we hoped that it would act like a barrier to prevent the effects of the Wraith'gul to transmit to all the other stargates including Atlantis and Earth.”

“Who the hell thought of that, Zelenka?!”

“Yes-”

“Never mind, it wouldn't work.  The translations I was able to read said that the Wraith'gul will go through any barrier, including if you buried it in tons of dirt and rocks,” Rodney remembered his initial dread at reading its effects before he pursed his lips quickly, “can we beam the stargate into the F-302 bay?”

“Excuse me?” Caldwell stared at him like he had grown another head along with some of the other bridge crews.

“Even if it is active up here, the Wraith'gul still needs a place to go and since it’s connected to the stargate...”

“If we take it up into orbit there is nowhere for the weapon's discharge to go to,” Caldwell nodded, understanding his reasoning before tapping his radio, “Bridge to Hermiod and Novak, can you configure a workaround quickly to beam the stargate into the F-302 bay?”

“Bridge this is Novak, Hermiod says he can, but it will take a minute or two,” Novak's reply came back after a few seconds.

“It doesn't have to go into the F-302,” Rodney quickly patched into the _Daedalus_ ' radio frequency, “we can just make it a space gate or something.  I think the Wraith'gul is planet based.”

“Actually it isn't,” Hermiod's nasal voice came back, “the weapon is much like the Dakara superweapon, which means it transmits into the surrounding space around the planet.  However, I believe I can make a work around.”

“Do so,” Caldwell cut in before turning to Kleinman, “Captain status?”

“Still the same,” the officer replied.

“That's good, that's good,” Rodney murmured to himself as he paced the side of the bridge, brushing past Ronon and Lorne who had come in before a thought stopped him, “wait, it's not firing or anything?”

“No sir,” Kleinman replied pointing to his monitor where levels looked like they were in the red, an imminent sign that it was going to fire, “it's holding...”

“Sheppard?” Ronon rumbled near him.

“Could be,” a slight sliver of hope filled him as he remembered his tablet and brought it around him.  Indeed, he saw that the power levels, though high, were holding and in fact, it looked like they were slowly but surely dropping.  Sheppard was actually doing it, was actually stopping the weapon.

Maybe they weren't going to die after all...

                                    *                      *                      *

The scans of the surrounding planet showed no other human or Furling life form on the planet, Rodney and Teyla having been beamed up to the _Daedalus_.  John breathed a quick sigh of relief before placing his hands once more on the control panel of the Wraith'gul.  He still felt dizzied and wasn't quite too sure he was really in the right place, his vision still blurring with the twilight skies of the Furling planet.  He was sure that it was the real place, but with Rodney's voice cutting into his own, the pain in his head, the static images that he had briefly forgot who he was supposed to kill...

Which one was real and which one the fake?  Teyla had said that Elizabeth would never order him to his death, but he knew that if pressed, she would do anything, like him, to make sure that Earth was never discovered by the Wraith.  She had not even stopped him when he had gone on his suicide run in the puddle jumper over a year and half ago to blow up the Wraith ships attacking Atlantis.

Yet, there had been something about Elizabeth when he had seemingly talked to her in her office that was off.  He had not pegged it until now.  It was the lack of emotion in her voice when she had spoken to him, the lack of empathy.  He had been too consumed by grief for his failures and the supposed deaths of his men to really been paying attention.  But Teyla had looked like she was alive and well, not at all bleeding to death in the medical ward that Taethos had dragged him and Apollo from.

Still...

He squeezed his eyes shut, seeing nothing of the darkness, willing his mind to be blank.  _Shut down_ , he thought to the machine, willing his own unique genes to shut the damned thing down.  If McKay said that the Wraith'gul would kill them all, then he believed it – as he knew his friend did not lie about such things, not with the earth cracking all around them as the ancient machine came to life.

_Are you sure?_ He felt more than heard the inquiry in his mind, a musical tinkling sound.

“Yes,” he spoke out loud before he closed his mouth.  _Yes_.

_Why?_

_Because I don't want to kill everyone_ , he gritted his teeth as he could feel a metal push of defiance, oddly child-like against his own efforts to shut down the Wraith'gul.  He did not know exactly how he was doing it, but suspected it was like the rest of Ancient technology, by instinct.  He could seemingly see a way to lower its levels, but somehow, this...thing, A.I., presence, was stopping him.

It had the same feel as Atlantis herself, but this was his first time attempting to communicate with something like it.  Atlantis had just seemed to hover at the back of his mind, occasionally seemingly laughing at him as he had explored the city during the last three and half years, but that was it.

_But you have already activated it, is this not your desire now?_

_I was coerced.  You know what that means?  No, you probably don't.  I need you to shut down_ , he commanded again.

_It will hurt, either way._

_That doesn't matter_ , John was already in pain, from his wounds, and from the drug running through his veins.  He was sure now, as much as he could be sure, that he wasn't hallucinating anymore.  That Elizabeth had not even suggested that he go on a suicide mission to regain the honor he had lost.  That Teyla was not dead, and very much alive.   That his men had not died in the ill-fated attack on M3R-154.

_You have been in pain for a long time._

John started and nearly lost his concentration as he felt the power levels spike before he managed to force it slowly back down.  He winced as he felt something rip out of him, but whether it was mental or physical he couldn't tell.  _Shut down_ , he repeated his command.

_Do you wish to sleep the pain away?_

_No!_   He mentally glared at the voice; _I want you to shut down so no one else has to die._

_Your pain will not go away._

_I don't care about that.  It's mine to deal with_ , he could see the levels in his mind's eye dropping some more and nearly gasped as he felt something bigger rip away at him.  He did not dare open his eyes, lest he saw perhaps blood spilling from him, but somehow he knew that wasn't the case.  It was as if the Wraith'gul was eating him, slowly, but surely as he forced it to shut down.

If that was the case...

_You are afraid..._

John was silent as he trembled slightly.

_You are afraid that it will hurt so much, that you will die as a result.  You are afraid of dying..._

_I..._ He looked up, even though his eyes were still closed, I _am afraid that if I die, it will be in vain.  If I die without making sure this weapon is completely shut down and rendered harmless, then everyone I know...I care for-_

_Elizabeth...Teyla..._ The tinkling voice was now thoughtful, _your teammates, Ronon and Rodney.  The expedition members..._

_Atlantis..._

_You do not want to die, yet you want to shut me down...how very odd._

It was then that John realized why the Ancients never used the weapon at all.  Why he had gotten such a skittish feeling from the Wraith'gul the two times he had approached it.  The Ancients designed the thing as a last resort and had abandoned it because it was too much.  Too much to ask a single person to sacrifice their own life to destroy others.  There could have been volunteers, he had no doubt about that, but the Ancients must have realized that no matter the cost, every life was precious.

_Life is precious, in this galaxy of mistakes..._ The musical tinkling echoed in his head.

To fire the weapon was to forfeit his own life.  There was just no way of shutting the weapon down, unless...

_I am afraid of dying_ , he thought to the machine, _but if it means saving my friends, I will gladly do it._

_You would have me shut down in exchange for your life?_

_Yes_ , there was no hesitation in his answer and John finally opened his eyes, staring at his hands which had bloody streaks running up and down his fingers.

_Then, John Sheppard, you shall sleep, before I do._

With that pronouncement, John suddenly felt a spike of pain, raking across his body, searing through his veins, lungs, eyes, hands, feet, everywhere around him – compressing him, ripping and tearing through him until just as suddenly, he could not feel anything anymore.

The forcefield surrounding him suddenly vanished as the machine abruptly shut down, but John Sheppard was already dead as he collapsed to the ground.

                                    *                      *                      *

“That's it!  Tremors have stopped and the power levels are non-existent!  Stargate has shut down,” Rodney shouted joyfully as the bridge of the _Daedalus_ burst into applause at the good news.

Many of the bridge personnel backslapped each other or shook hands, but Rodney was already on the move, “Colonel, can you beam us back to the planet?  I know the Daedalus' sensors can't pick up any life signs within the Wraith'gul to beam Sheppard out, but we'll get him out.”

“Will do, I'm sending down a squad of marines-”

“I would like to accompany them, if possible Colonel,” Apollo's accented voice spoke up quietly from the corner of the hallway that lead from the bridge and Caldwell's eyes narrowed slightly.

“Shouldn't you-”

“Ach,” Carson suddenly burst in, glaring at Apollo, “there you are.”

“Doctor?” Caldwell stepped away from his chair and rounded towards them.  It was then that he noticed the sheen of sweat on the man's face, the paleness of his skin and even the hidden pain in his eyes.

“I'm sorry, but he's not going anywhere-”

“I am fine,” Apollo protested.

“No you're not,” Carson was not one to back down, especially in a medical situation, “you've nearly had pulmonary failure and the rest of your body is shutting down-”

“I need to see if he is truly dead,” Apollo growled before wincing slightly and clutching a fist against his left chest.  “It is my mission-”

“I don't care if it is your mission you are my patient and that'll be that,” the doctor glared at the humanoid Furling daring him to contradict what he had said.

“Doctor, I am his commanding officer,” a beautiful brown-haired woman suddenly walked towards them, “it is his mission to complete.  I understand your need to treat and make sure Arileon Apollo survives, but you do not understand our ways.”  She turned her brown-eyed gaze to Caldwell, “Colonel, please beam Apollo down with your team.  When he had reported in his confirmation of Taethos' death, you may transport him back up and let the good physician tend to his wounds.”

“Before the Wraith'gul shut down, we didn't read any life forms on the planet or even near the Wraith'gul,” Caldwell narrowed his eyes slightly, “I can assure you Commandant Artemis, there's no one alive down there.”

“You may say that, but Taethos is resourceful.  He may have cloaked himself or even gone through the Chappa’ai when the Wraith'gul was powering up to fire,” Artemis drew herself to her full height, “it would be beneficial to our fledgling alliance, do you not agree?”

Caldwell pursed his lips slightly before grudgingly nodded, “All right.  But make no mistake, if you happen to die down there-”

“My people will not hold it against the Tau'ri,” Artemis smoothly replied before looking at Apollo and spoke a command to him in their language before he made an odd gesture and left the bridge, carrying himself ridged.

“Colonel, I would like to reserve a spot on the teams sent down for a medical personnel.  Colonel Sheppard may be injured.”

“Understood, get yourselves to the beaming room,” Caldwell dismissed them and they all left.

                                    *                      *                      *

As soon as they had beamed down in front of the catacombs, Teyla immediately sighted down her P90, wary of anymore cloaked Furlings or even worst, Taethos.  The idea that the female Furling, apparently a higher ranking than Apollo, had suggested that Taethos was still alive did not necessarily scare her as much as it sent a grim feeling down her.

“Captain Pearson, your team has the entrance.  Doc, you're coming with us,” Major Lorne immediately ordered before they headed into the catacombs.  “Apollo, I hate to ask you this in your condition, but can you...”

“Understood Major,” Teyla glanced at the Furling that had helped them since the beginning and frowned.  She didn't know all of the details, but the sheen of sweat and barely masked pain on the Furling's human face was definitely not a good sign.

Apollo must have noticed her concerned look as he gave her a wane smile.  “There is a specific reason why my kind do not shapeshift so quickly,” he closed his eyes briefly as he began to change, slower than ever, but after a few minutes, he was back in his natural form, the pain still recognizable on his face.  There was a moment’s hesitation and Teyla saw the small tremor run through his body before he gave her an equivalent of a smile.  “Our bodies and internal organs need time to adjust to their different forms to maintain viable sustainability.  To shapeshift so quickly...”

“It means certain death,” she finished quietly as she realized that the instant he had decided to save them all from Taethos by shifting with a blink of an eye, he had essentially sealed his own fate.

“But, for the moment, since I am still alive and breathing, I can assist you all in making sure an ambush does not happen again,” his smile disappeared, replaced by a grim look before his whiskers twitched slightly and he drew in a deep breath.  “All clear so far, Major.  I do not sense nor smell any abnormalities.”

“Let's go,” Lorne started forward along with Ronon as they made their way deeper into the catacombs.

The rough raw material of the catacombs soon gave way to the smooth angular design that was clearly Ancient and soon, they came upon the first body of the Furling that they had killed in the firefight.  Teyla played her P90's light over the body before Ronon's gruff voice spoke up.

“I found him,” he said and she immediately swept her light over to where Ronon was pointing.

Relief filled her just as immediately as it was replaced by dread as she saw that indeed it was John, but...

“Oh crap, he's not breathing!” Carson quickly brushed past her and immediately knelt down next to John's body, checking for a pulse before placing his ear against his chest.

When he ripped open the tattered remnants of John's tac vest and began compressions, Teyla immediately hurried forward and knelt by the side of John's head, ready to assist Carson in trying to revive him.

“Major,” the radio crackled with Caldwell's voice, “we're getting a single life sign within the compound.”

“Roger that,” Lorne tapped his radio, turning away from their attempts to revive John, but Teyla saw the slight look of sorrow on his face.  “Pearson, apparently Taethos may be in the compound-”

“The sarcophagus!” Rodney shouted and Teyla looked up after she had breathed twice into John's mouth and Carson started compressions once more.

“Yes, that may work,” she remembered dying and waking up bathed in a soft warm glow of the sarcophagus, healing all of her wounds, making her strong and healthy.

“I will carry him,” Akiesios had almost dashed away from them, still focused on his mission to make sure Taethos was truly dead, before returning and knelt down by Carson's side.  “Doctor, if you will.”

“What-” Carson looked utterly confused.

“There is a Goa'uld sarcophagus in Akiesios' medical lab,” Teyla quickly explained.

Carson had not even stopped in his compressions, and looked like he was about to protest before he bit his lip.  Teyla completely understood where the doctor was coming from.  He would do anything that was humanly possible to try to save his patient.  Telling him to trust a piece of technology that technically should not exist in this galaxy was telling him to hold back on his medical oath.  However, at this point, John wasn't even reviving or moving and looked so deathly pale that she was willing to put him in the sarcophagus if it meant he was going to be revived.

“All right,” he stopped his compressions and backed away slightly as Akiesios with surprising gentleness, picked John up and hurried out of the darkened control center of the Wraith'gul.

Teyla quickly stood up and followed him out as Lorne tapped his radio once more.

“Pearson, take your team and scout ahead.  We're headed towards the compound.  If you do see Taethos, do not engage, repeat, do not engage.”

“Yes sir,” Pearson's reply came back quickly.

“ _Daedalus_ , this is Lorne,” he tapped his radio again as they ran through the woods, still wary of an ambush, “we found Colonel Sheppard and are taking him to the sarcophagus in the compound.”

“Major, did you say sarcophagus?!” Caldwell sounded shocked.

“Yes sir,” Lorne replied, “I also recommend sending down another team of marines to guard the stargate.  If it is Taethos in the compound...”

“Understood, _Daedalus_ out,” Caldwell replied.

A few minutes later, Teyla saw the familiar entrance to the compound where they had initially escaped from and Rodney hurried forward to input Akiesios' command code and the doors hissed open.  They along with Captain Pearson and his marines hurried in, but the Furling brushed past all of them, not even bothering with procedure as he hurried down the halls and finally arrived at his lab.

The sight that greeted them was the sparking remnants of the sarcophagus, half open and crystal components littered all over the ground.

“No...” Rodney breathed their collective denial.

                                    *                      *                      *

Akiesios narrowed his eyes as he saw that the sarcophagus had been damaged but thankfully not destroyed.  It had to be Taethos, he was the only life sign Colonel Caldwell had said was still on the planet, probably having hidden himself with a cloak during their evacuation.  He had ultimately lost the hand-to-hand battle with Taethos, the taller and much stronger Klisan'thus overpowering him when they had reached the surface.  The men both he and Major Lorne had stationed in the back entrance had shot at his fleeing form, but they had lost him when the _Daedalus_ began beaming people up for evacuations of the planet.

At least he had managed to get the memory device off of the Furling's head before anymore damage could be done to Colonel Sheppard.  However, he would have gone in hot pursuit if not for the sudden feeling of his heart being squeezed, so tightly that he thought would burst any second.  It had left him winded and seeing spots in his vision before he thought he had blacked out from the pain and had awakened on one of the medical beds in the _Daedalus_ ' medical bay.  He had also found that he had unconsciously reverted back to his human form then.

Shaking himself back to the present, he knelt down as best as his trembling form could allow and gently laid Colonel Sheppard on one of the remaining beds in his medical ward that hadn't been filled with debris or turned over.  “Dr. McKay, I require your assistance,” he growled before closing his eyes and forcing himself to revert to his human form.

It hurt, shooting pain spreading from his heart and through his nerves, but he pushed past that and finally, felt his organs realigning themselves before he opened his eyes once more.  His world abruptly tilted and he grabbed the edge of the bed, steadying himself as he felt light-headed and dizzied.  Strong arms grabbed hold of him and he shook his head slightly then stopped his motion as he felt his stomach doing flip flops.

“I will be fine,” he waved away Dr. Beckett and Teyla's assistance before forcing himself to blink away the spots of white from his eyes and walk over to the sarcophagus where Dr. McKay was already examining it, picking up the small crystals and looking them over.

“Are you familiar with this technology?” he asked the scientist.

“Eh, not quite as much as Colonel Sam Carter, but I do have some experience with Goa'uld tech,” McKay nodded absently before putting a couple of crystals back into a small slot.

“We will need to work fast,” he picked up a couple of the crystals before staring at them and then placing them back into the panel, but on opposite sides.  “There is a certain point until a body cannot be successfully revived, and I do not even know if the sarcophagus will be as effective.”

“Look, it just needs to work, that's it,” McKay snapped at him, jamming a few more crystals in before hooking his computer up with a small wire.

“Lieutenant Brown, you're on guard duty here,” Lorne spoke behind him, “the rest of you, we're hunting down that single life sign.”

Apollo started at Lorne's statement, hearing the anger in his voice and was about to open his mouth when he heard a shift of feet behind him.

“I'm sorry, I know it's your mission, but right now...”

“I understand,” he replied.  The Tau'ri were definitely like their predecessors.  Hot-headed, passionate, and quick to anger.  Colonel Sheppard was a lucky commander to find that his own men would get revenge so easily.  He knew that in the Klisan'thus culture, such things were rare indeed.  It was more of a subtle sense of revenge, followed by a quick strike which was also quite violent at times.  He knew that there was nothing he could do to dissuade them.  He had to help fix the sarcophagus and make it at least revive Colonel Sheppard.

There was more shifting of feet followed by quick steps walking away and it told him that Teyla, Ronon, and Major Lorne had left.  Turning back to his work, he placed a couple more crystals in different slots before McKay shot a hand out to stop him.

“Hold on, I think we got it,” the scientist looked excited before touching a crystal lightly and sarcophagus lit up.  However, the usual almost silent hum was replaced by a light high pitched whine, a clear sign that it was not completely working well.  “Okay, that's enough power for it, I think, but...I don't know if it will heal.”

“One way to find out,” he used the very human expression that he remembered his father always saying when facing the unknown and stood up, grimacing as he felt a new wave of pain wash over him, immediately making the world spin.

“You, um, don't look so good,” McKay spoke up timidly and Apollo looked at him sideways before slowly shaking his head and walking slowly over to where Colonel Sheppard laid on the medical bed, still deathly still and pale.

Apollo knew he would deal with his own mortality when the time came.  Right now, Colonel Sheppard was in graver straits than he was.  “Lieutenant?” he glanced over Lieutenant Brown who immediately hurried forward and helped him carry Sheppard to the sarcophagus.  They managed to get him in and he stepped back.

“Nothing is happening,” Dr. Beckett peered over their shoulders.

“We may have to push the cover on,” Apollo frowned before he and the doctor took one side, McKay and Lieutenant Brown on the other.  Together, they pushed the parallel covers together until it locked with a pneumatic hiss.

“How do we know when it is successful?” Beckett immediately grabbed his shoulder and sat him down next to the side of the sarcophagus, flicking a pen light into his eyes.  Apollo didn't voice his thanks, but he was grateful for the assistance.  The last effort to push the covers together had nearly made him collapse from the sudden drain of blood from his face.

He slowly shook his head, raising a hand as it trembled slightly.  “I...do not know,” he made a fist, trying to stop the tremors, but they still continued to his dismay.

“Listen son, we need to get you back up to the ship, you're going into shock,” Beckett's voice suddenly seemed so far away and Apollo looked at him sluggishly.  He was moving fine just a few minutes ago, wasn't he?  How could he suddenly go into shock?  Yes, he had been dizzied and feeling faint for a while, but he had to make sure the Colonel was going to be fine.

“I'm...fine,” he tried to work his mouth, but somehow, the words were hard to come by and he stared at his trembling hand, “Taethos...”  He had to make sure Taethos was dead, then he could at least report to his sister that his mission was complete.  That the threat to the High Council was eliminated.

As his vision dimmed, he thought he heard Dr. Beckett saying something about getting him through the Chappa’ai, that there was no time...  But wasn't time immaterial to someone like him?  Time was most definitely immaterial to the Klisan'thus...  Apollo quietly slid into darkness, unaware of the panic around him.

Time was everything...

                                    *                      *                      *

If heaven felt like a warm fuzzy blanket, then John definitely knew he was not in the right place.  No one in their right mind would ever make heaven a warm and fuzzy place.  Certainly not God, nor whatever deity was out there.  Maybe he was in hell then?

“I certainly hope not, Colonel for your sake,” the quiet Scottish brogue spoke up next to his right ear and he cracked his eyes open.

The familiar walls of Atlantis' infirmary greeted him as he blinked a few times before turning his head slightly to see the good doctor peering over his head, making a small note on a thick folder that he suspected was his medical chart.  “Doc?” he cracked, feeling his throat dry and cotton-like.

Carson looked down at him and patted him on his arm, “Good to have you back with us, Colonel.”  He picked up a small squeeze bottle and squirted some water into his mouth.  John sucked at it greedily, swishing it around his throat as best as he could before swallowing it.

“Where did I go?” his voice still cracked slightly from disuse, “last thing I remember...”  Frowning, he tried to recall what had happened.  The last thing he remembered was...

_You would have me shut down in exchange for your life?_

_Yes._

_Then, John Sheppard, you shall sleep, before I do..._

“I...” he trailed off for a second before looking up at Carson, “I died...right?”

He saw the Scottish doctor bite his lip before nodding, “Yes.  When we found you after the Wraith'gul inexplicably shut down, you were dead.  Apollo and Rodney tried to fix the sarcophagus to revive you, but, they only managed to get it working for about twenty minutes before it shut down completely.

He saw a slight hesitation in the doctor's eyes before resolve filled them and he continued, “The sarcophagus only managed to revive you somewhat.  You've been in a coma for the last two weeks.”

“Two weeks?!” John started, sending shooting pain up and down his left arm.  He twisted his head and saw that it was heavily bandaged from where the Furling holding him had gave him a nasty puncture wound to his upper arm and an IV was hooked up to the crook of his elbow.

Carson was immediately by his left side, pushing his arm back down and checking to make sure he did not rip any of the IV or lines on him.  “Colonel, please,” the doctor gave him an admonishing look.

“Sorry,” he grumbled, “just...two weeks...”

“I know,” he patted his shoulder, “for a while we thought we may have lost you there.  It looked like you weren't going to wake up any time soon.  Rodney even suggested that we send you back to Stargate Command and have them put you in a sarcophagus, but with the Goa'uld defeated and scattered...”

John looked at him sideway before nodding.  He was glad that they didn't ship him back to Earth.

“Artemis also said that the Furling sarcophagus, while looking exactly like its Goa'uld counterpart is much different in that it does not produce a drug-addiction like reaction from multiple uses.  Apparently the Goa'uld need such type of addiction in order to keep the naquadah in their blood functioning.”

“Artemis?” he blinked, “as in the Greek goddess of the hunt Artemis?”

“Aye,” Carson looked sheepish, “quite a fine looking woman too, whenever she's in her human form.”  He shook his head slightly, “She's apparently Apollo's commanding officer and part of the High Council.  She is also the head of the Agentus, which is like some secret agent military thing I suppose, that only reports to the High Council.”

John nodded, feeling slightly stronger and more awake, but he knew that it would be a while until he would regain his full strength.  Being out of commission for two weeks meant that he would have to take it easy to recover.  However, he did not want to spend it in the infirmary the whole time.  He slowly shifted his feet under the blanket, “Hey Doc...”

“The answer is no,” Carson looked at him for a  second before holding the squeeze bottle of water to his lips again and he sipped a few gulps before he took it away.

“But you didn't-”

“Colonel, I want to make sure you are not suffering any ill effects from the sarcophagus, Wraith'gul, or the fact that you were clinically dead for over twenty minutes,” the doctor held up a hand to stop his protest, “I can have you moved to a more private area and have privacy curtains drawn around you, if you want.”

“How long?” John was a fiercely private person and did not want others to see him and feel pity for his condition – though he suspected that being clinically dead for over twenty minutes along with being stuffed into a half-broken sarcophagus probably already elicited pity from some people.

“For another two weeks, but if you feel stronger after a few days or so, I will clear you back for light duty until that wound on your arm and face heal,” Carson looked at him sympathetically, “I'm sorry Colonel, but...”

“Yeah, I know...” John sighed.  The doctor was only doing his job, as usual.

“Well then,” Carson closed his folder, “you're doing fine so far.  I'll notify the nurse on duty tonight to make sure you start getting some light solid food in your body.  Do you want to sleep or can I tell your teammates who have been badgering me for the past two weeks by sitting by your side that you are now awake?”

John was startled at the fact that his teammates had been sitting with him the whole time he was not even conscious; startled and touched.  He knew Teyla would be the one most likely to sit by his side whenever he was injured, but his whole team?  Rodney included?  His best friend was the last person he would have figured doing such a thing.

He shifted slightly in his bed before finally nodding and Carson beamed before patting him on the shoulder and heading away, tapping his radio before speaking quietly into it.  As John waited for his team to arrive, he looked around the medical ward and was quite surprised to see a figure, swathed in a multitude of bandages, oxygen mask on his face, his artificial respirator connected to it pumping air up and down in a rhythmic fashion.  A saline drip hung on one of the rungs along with another drip that he couldn't quite identify.

The person's hair was the only nearly visible aspect on the stark white bed and he swore the person looked somewhat familiar...

“Hey, sleeping beauty's now awake!” Rodney's sarcastic voice brought his gaze around to see him munching on a sandwich; tablet tucked underneath an arm, followed by Teyla and Ronon, the former of the two with a warm smile on her face.

He nodded to his best friend's greeting, “Guys...”

“Good to see you awake John,” Teyla greeted and Ronon just nodded and made some sort of grunt that could have been a greeting for all he knew.  Ronon was a man of very few words.  “How are you feeling?”

“Eh,” John shrugged as best as he could feel his muscles sort of respond to his mental commands, “just tired.”

“Well, you'll be happy to know that the Wraith'gul, has been mostly deactivated and I've locked out all of the other addresses on the DHD the thing was supposed to dial to.  We've also put the gate in space just to deter anyone else from messing with it,” Rodney looked proud of himself before polishing off the rest of his sandwich.

“Mostly deactivated?” John raised an eyebrow.

“Well,” he saw his friend look a bit flustered, “with Major Lorne's help we've managed to shut down most of the critical systems, but somehow, we can't get to a part...Lorne just says that he's hearing some kind of voice repeating your name.”

“You let Lorne and the others near that thing?!” John managed to half sit up, eyes narrowed in anger.

“He was the only one with the natural gene that wasn't terrified by that thing,” McKay looked a little chagrined, “apparently; he says that it talks to you if you have the natural gene...”

John fell silent at that statement and saw both Teyla and Ronon looking at him with oddly curious looks.  Rodney was also looking at him, unconsciously hopping from one foot to the other.  He honestly did not want to talk about what had happened in the moments that he forced the Wraith'gul to shut down and apparently kill him at the same time.  Elizabeth would want a detailed account in his eventual report and Stargate Command would want to know how this was related to his unique genes...

“Look,” he hesitated, “can we...”

“We understand,” Teyla immediately took over, stepping forward and placing a comforting arm on his own, squeezing it slightly in reassurance before looking at McKay pointedly, “don't we Rodney?”

“But-”

Ronon placed a hand on his shoulder, shutting him up, “You look tired Sheppard, get some rest.”  He started to steer Rodney away from his bed side, the man spluttering the whole way before it was cut off with the doors to the infirmary hissing close.

“I will thank Ronon for you,” the corners of Teyla's mouth quirked up in a half smile before she started moving away from the bed.

“Wait,” John reached out and grabbed her fingers, “did everyone...?”

“Yes, everyone else survived, because of your actions.  However,” she glanced over at the bandaged man and her expression became sorrowful, “it seems that Apollo put himself in mortal danger to save all of us when we were trying to rescue you.  He has been on an artificial respirator since then, and it seems the Furling High Council requests that he be returned to them to pass on.”

John stared at the tufts of brown hair peeking out from swaths of bandages and indeed saw that it was Apollo, though pale faced and unmoving.  He didn't know the circumstances that lead to the Furling being in this condition, but somehow, he felt responsible for yet another man dying under his command.

“Dr. Weir is fighting the extradition, but there is only so much she can do without breaking the tentative alliance we have with the Furlings,” Teyla squeezed his fingers once before releasing them, “get some rest John.  I'll let Dr. Weir know you are awake.”

John nodded as she stepped away and headed out of the infirmary.  He looked over to Apollo's still form, shaking his head slightly before making himself more comfortable on his bed and closed his eyes.  He would never admit it, but that brief moment of his team visiting him had exhausted all of the initial energy he thought he had when he woke up.

He thought he heard a musical tinkling sound, warm and soothing, as he felt himself falling asleep.  It seemingly told him not to worry, that he was safe and sound now, that everyone was safe; that he had done the best he could to save them.

_Sleep, Little One, before I do._

                                    *                      *                      *

**Author's Final Notes:**

            The rest of this story is continued in a one-shot side story _Recovery_ , which will focus more on Elizabeth and John’s perspectives in the aftermath of _Sleep Before I Do_.  I know I left Apollo hanging, but there is a good reason for that which will be explained in the side story. I will also put my usual Author's Q &A at the end of that one-shot so for those with questions for me, please leave them in your review and I will answer them at the end of the one-shot.  Thank you again for reading and reviewing this fanfic!


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